When the Past Catches Up With You
by snooze5
Summary: When Leon's sister comes to live with the team she gets dragged into old battles, and falls in love. Will she be able to survive to find the happiness she craves. NEW CHAPTER UP OCTOBER 3!
1. Chapter 1

It was 5 o'clock on a Saturday morning in LA, everyone in the Toretto household was finally sleeping after another victory party for Dom. Letty and Dom were in their shared bedroom finally asleep after Letty's nightly "massage." Mia was asleep in what used to be her room but now served as her and Brain's room, with Brain's arms wrapped around her. Leon, Jesse and Vince were each asleep in their bedrooms in the basement, Vince's skank of the night having left only an hour earlier. The silence that had settled over the house was abruptly broken as Leon's phone rang out with the newest Jay-Z song. He groped blindly in the dark for a couple of seconds before finally grabbing his cell.

"This better be really fucking important" he growled.

"Oh, come on Le, is that anyway to greet your favorite sister?" an overly awake voice said.

"Jesus…Jo. Its five in the morning."

"Oh, shit Le, I'm sorry. I forgot the whole time difference thing."

"Don't worry about it. What's so important it couldn't wait until later tonight?"

"Umm…I'm transferring out to UCLA…and I need a place to stay." She said sheepishly.

"What!? Why are you transferring? What's wrong? Why are you leaving Florida?"

"Relax Le, I just need a change of scenery. I'm doing a semester out there…and I need a cheap place to stay so…can I stay with you?"

"I don't know Jo, its not my house but I'll ask Dom when he gets up, I don't think it'll be a problem…we have an extra room and shit so…that is if you don't mind living with a bunch of horny guys."

"How could that possibly be a bad thing Le?"

"Shit, Jo I don't hear that from my baby sister!"

"Says the king of one night stands himself…listen get back to me as soon as you can…cause my flight gets in at 2 on Monday. Love you bye!!" she said quickly hanging up before Leon could respond. Leon hung up his phone and rolled onto his back smiling. He hadn't seen Jo since he'd come out to LA when he was 18 and she was 15. Although they hadn't seen each other in 4 years, they talked all the time. She was the only person from his family that he still spoke to…and she wasn't even blood, she was his step-sister. Leon looked at the clock and moaned…it was 5:15, he flopped back onto his stomach and within moments was sound asleep.

Leon was the last one up at 2 o'clock, he dragged himself up the stairs to see a very hung over Vince and Jesse sitting at the kitchen table both nursing cups of very strong, very black coffee. Mia was bustling around making a late breakfast, while Brain and Dom sat on the couch watching Letty play PS2.

"Shit bro…its about time…we were waiting for your ass for breakfast, and I'm fucking starving." Vince said seeing Leon enter the kitchen.

"Shut up dawg…I'm tired. Where's the coffee?"

"We're out Leon" Mia said from the stove.

"Shit"

"That's what you get for waking up so fucking late!"

"Shut up V!"

"Both of you shut up" Dom's deep voice growled as he entered the kitchen, "I'm too fucking tired, so just shut up." As Dom sat down Mia began putting huge stacks of bacon, eggs, and pancakes on the table. Brain and Letty followed Dom into the kitchen and sat down to the food. All conversation stopped as everyone dug into the food Mia had made, when they'd finished Dom directed Jesse and Brain to do the dishes. Leon and Vince were about to go play video games when Leon remembered Jo's call. Dom was heading outside to check on his car…one of his daily rituals when Leon called to him.

"Hey Dom"

"What?"

"I got a call from my sister this morning"

"Sister?"

"Yeah, you know my step sister…she lives in Florida."

"Right…so what's up?"

"She's transferring out to UCLA for a semester and she wanted to know if she could stay here. You know a cheap place to live."

"I don't know Leon…were pretty fucking crowded here."

"I know dawg but she's my sister and Letty doesn't need her own room anymore she's in with you. Come on bro."

"She's family Dom" Mia interrupted coming into the living room.

"Mia..." Dom groaned. "Aight Leon…fine…but she's gonna work at the store or the garage like everyone else."

"No prob dawg"

"When's she getting here?"

"Monday" Leon said as Dom rolled his eyes and walked outside.

"Thanks Mia"

"No problem…so whats she like Leon?"

"Yeah, what's she look like?" Vince asked

"She's not your type V" Leon responded sharply

"How do you know if you haven't seen her in…however many fucking years?"

"4 years and she's not one of those one night skanks you bring home."

"Yeah you're one to talk…Le"

"How old is she Leon?" Mia asked cutting off Vince and glaring at him.

"Umm…I guess she'd be 19 now."

"So she's going to UCLA?"

"Yeah for the semester."

"That's it?"

"Yeah I think so. She's the only one I still talk to. She's real chill ya know?"

"Why's she transferring?"

"She said a change of scenery." Leon said, and before Mia could ask another question Dom was yelling for Vince and Leon outside and they bounded out to help him. Mia walked back upstairs where she ran into Letty coming out of the shower.

"Hey girl"

"What's up Mia?"

"Leon's sister is moving in here on Monday."

"Really…I kinda remember him talking about her. What's her name again?"

"I think Leon called her Jo, but that must be short for something."

"So I should get the rest of my shit outta that room, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll help."

"Aight." Mia and Letty spent the next couple of hours taking the last of Letty's boxes out of her old room and storing them in the closet of her and Dom's room.


	2. Chapter 2

_Back in Florida_

"Are you seriously leaving?"

"No…I'm packing as some very elaborate joke."

"Where are you gonna stay?"

"I'm staying with Leon at his house."

"The Leon that you haven't seen in 4 years!?"

"Yeah, but he's also my brother…and we talk all the time."

"Yeah, but living with him is completely different, but he has a spare room in his house for you?"

"Well yeah, but it's not his house."

"Well whose house is it?"

"His friend Dom, but he lives with like 6 other people."

"Well that sounds like fun" Rae said sarcastically.

"It'll be fun, but I was wondering if you could take me to the airport on Monday…please…I'll love you forever. Come on Rae."

"Fine, no problem. When did you ask Leon?"

"This morning, the only problem is, Leon has to ask Dom still."

"So you don't know if you have anywhere to stay!?" Before Jo could answer her cell phone rang.

"Ha, it's Leon" she said to Rae as she answered the phone.

"Hey Le, what's up?"

"Just woke up…but I talked to Dom and its cool with him, but you're gonna have to work at the garage or the store.

"That's fine, I needed a job anyway. Thanks Le"

"Don't worry about it, so you're coming in to LAX at 2 right?"

"Yeah, you gonna pick me up?"

"Hell yeah, not that Dom's gonna be happy about it, but whatever."

"Dom sounds tough."

"A little, don't worry about him. Everyone's gonna love you."

"Aight Leon, I gotta go to class. But I'll see you on Monday, thanx, love you!"

"Luv you to girl, see you Monday."

**A/N: Thanks for reading so far guys…this chapter is amazingly short, but I'm posting the third chapter now too…so I hope that makes up for it. Hope you're enjoying his so far, reviews loved!!**


	3. Chapter 3

After six hours on the plane Jo finally landed in LA, the whole flight had been a living hell as far as she was concerned. She checked two bags and had two carry ons. Both of her carry ons had been opened and searched by security; she'd been stuck next to a screaming kid the entire flight, and she was petrified about meeting Leon's friends. But finally, after what felt like an eternity, the plane landed in LAX. Jo grabbed both of her carry ons from the overhead compartment, and quickly made her way through the throngs of people heading to the arrival gates. She looked around for several minutes before spotting Leon. "God he still wears the same shit," she thought noticing Leon's jersey and jeans.

"S'up Le" she called seeing he didn't notice her, he turned his head and his eyes went wide with shock. "Dayum she grew up," Leon thought, "shit, now I know how Dom feels."

"Hey baby girl" he said hugging her "you look great, shit you look completely different."

"Is that a good thing Le" Jo asked with a laugh.

"It's a good thing for you, it fucking sucks for me, cause now I gotta keep an eye on you."

"Nah, I can take care of myself Le."

"Yeah, we'll see. You got more shit?"

"Of course I do. I got two more bags."

"Aight, let's go."

Jo followed Leon to baggage claim which, to add to her day of hell so far, was packed with people and wasn't her flight yet.

"I didn't get you in trouble for missing work did I?"

"Nah, Dom acts tough but he's a big softie, but don't tell him I said that, k?"

"Well that reassuring Le thanks."

"No prob babe" Leon said with a grin as the baggage from Jo's flight finally started around on the carousel. Going along with her luck from the rest of her day so far her bags were the last bags to come around. Jo pointed out her bags and Leon grabbed them and they left the terminal and headed straight to Leon's sky line.

"So that's the sky line huh?"

"I thought you didn't know cars?"

"I don't; But you talk about that car more then you talk about anything else."

"Yeah, I guess I do. Come on let's go home." It took Leon and Jo two hours to get home, hitting three separate accidents on the freeway before pulling up to a two story house with a huge front porch and drive way.

"This is it." Leon stated as he pulled his car to a stop, "come on; we'll come back for your shit later, let me show you around." Leon and Jo walked up the porch steps and through the front door revealing a fairly large living room. Strewn about the room were Play Station controllers, a few beer bottles and on the couch an electric guitar.

"Come on." Leon said leading her into the kitchen, and then down a back stair case into the finished basement,

"Me, Vince and Jesse live down here. This one's mine" Leon said opening the door to a small room with cloths strewn around the room. That one" he said pointing "is Vince's and that one is Jesse's." He led her back upstairs into the kitchen and then up to the second floor.

"That's Dom and Letty's room, that's the bathroom, Brian and Mia's room, and this is your room." Leon said opening the door to the room at the end of the hall. Jo's initial reaction was it was small. There was a double bed, a small closest and chest of drawers, and that was it. But she figured since it was free and she'd be hanging out with Leon, it was perfect. As she continued to explore the room, the screeching of tires could be heard coming down the street.

"That's the team. Come on." Leon said as he bounded down the stairs like an overexcited puppy, dragging Jo behind him. They made it to the front porch just as the team was getting out of their cars. The first car to pull in was a pretty red car, at least by Jo's estimation, and out of it came pretty much the biggest man Jo'd ever seen. He made his way to the porch followed by a pretty tough looking Spanish girl in sunglasses. They were followed by a blond guy who looked like he needed a surf board with him, and another dark haired girl.

"Two more cars came in for you today Leon." The big man said coming onto the porch and extending his hand.

"I'm Dominic Toretto, you can call me Dom." Jo shook his hand and responded,

"I'm Jo. Thanks for letting me stay here Dom."

"Don't worry about it, Leon's family and you're his sis so you're family too."

"Does that mean I get to mess with you like I mess with Leon?"

"No." Dom went into the house as Jo met the rest of the family.

"Hey, I'm Letty, Dom's girl."

"And I'm Mia, Dom's sister, and this is Brian my boyfriend."

"Hey, it's nice to meet you."

"You too, you can call me Jo." Brian continued into the house, leaving Mia and Letty behind on the porch.

"So are you all on-packed?" Asked Mia.

"Almost"

"Come on we'll help you finish." Mia said leading the way up the stairs followed by Jo and Letty. As they reached the room Mia was already looking through her closest.

"You don't have any skirts"

"I'm not a skirt type of girl really."

"That's what I thought girl, but Mia will change that."

"Oh, come on I'm not that bad." Mia said exasperated.

"Sure, Mia, sure." Letty said rolling her eyes. The three girls sat talking for another few minuets before hearing loud exhaust coming down the road.

"There's Jesse and Coyote. Come on Jo" Letty said dragging her down the stairs. There were two men standing in the living room a blonde guy in a beanie, and a well built man with dark brown hair and stubble.

"Jo, this is Jesse and Vince. Guys this is Jo."

"Chicken's done. Let's go!" Dom's voice called from outside. Jo and Mia started outside, while Jesse went to wash up. Vince was left staring at the spot Jo had just left. Letty had known Vince as long as she'd known Dom, and she knew the look on Vince's face. "Dom's not gonna like this" Letty thought.

"Vince…Vince"

"What" he growled

"Watcha looking at Coyote?"

"Nothin"

"Does nothin actually mean Leon's sister who's what…5 years younger then you."

"That ain't that much" he mumbled going upstairs to wash up.


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, Jesse was once again "tricked into saying the blessing. Mia and Jo washed the dishes while Brian dried, Letty and Dom went upstairs and weren't seen again for the rest of the night, Leon and Jesse were playing video games, and Vince was playing rifts on his guitar. Basically a typical night in the Toretto household.

"So Leon said you have class Tuesday and Thursday, which is perfect because I have class on Monday, Wednesday, Friday."

"So, I'll work while you're at school, and you'll work while I'm at school."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Sounds good to me." Jo said as she handed Brian the last dish, he dried it, came up behind Mia, wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered into her ear. Mia laughed as he began to kiss and nuzzle her neck. Jo took this as her cue to leave and walked into the living room where the boys were.

"Wanna play Jo?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna watch" she said sitting on the couch next to Vince.

"How long you been playing Vince?"

"Uhh…I don't know…maybe 5, 6 years…why?"

"It sounded good …I was just wondering." Vince looked at her, head cocked slightly to the side…as if he was trying to figure her out.

"Oh, hey Jo" Leon interrupted "we got a race tomorrow night…and you're coming."

"Really, cool! I've never been to a race before. Thanks Le, I'm heading to bed see you all in the morning."

"Night sis"

"Night Jo"

"Night"

All Tuesday passed without incident. Mia and Jo hung out at the store and Mia showed her where everything was. They left at 5 and arrived back at the fort about the same time as Letty and the guys, as soon as Letty got out of the car Mia grabbed her and Jo and dragged them upstairs to get ready.

"Mia, hurry the fuck up!"

"Shut up Dom we're almost ready."

"Mia if you're not down here in 2 minutes…"

"You'll what Dom?" Letty yelled down the stairs.

"That's a trick bro, don't answer." Vince said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Dom said as they finally heard the girl's steps on the stairs.

"About fucking time." Dom mumbled under his breath.

"Love you too papi" Letty purred into his ear after she reached him.

She was wearing a leather mini-skirt with flames, her matching boots, and sheer tank top with a black bra underneath. Mia came down the stairs and walked straight to Brian's outstretched arms, she was wearing skin tight white leather pants, and a blue tube top. Last one down was Jo, dressed much more conservatively then the other too. She was wearing faded and torn blue jeans, flip-flops and, at Mia's insistence a white backless halter top. "Thank god" Leon said under his breath after seeing what Jo was wearing. Letty was intently watching for Vince's reaction, and he didn't disappoint, his mouth practically fell to the floor. Jo was about five-ten and had legs that seemed to Vince to go on forever. She had a flat stomach, that though not visible immediately, showed as she walked. She had toned arms and back and the white material looked great on her partially tanned skin. Her light brown hair was left hanging down her back, and it perfectly framed her face. Vince was so distracted by her he forgot to complement Mia, and yell at Brian as was his usual.

"Let's get going. Mia ride with Brian, Jo ride with Leon." Dom said, while receiving a harsh glare from Vince.

"Jo, my girls gonna be at the race tonight." Leon said once they were in the car.

"So, I finally get to meet the girl that made you a one women man."

"Yeah, but don't spread that around."

"What's her name again?"

"Amanda"

"Well, I'm excited."

"Yeah, oh, and if shit goes down and the cops show up get into the nearest team car, aight?"

"Sure bro."

"Here we go." Leon said as they pulled into the warehouse ally way. As the teams cars pulled to a stop they were mobbed with racer chasers and actual racers. All the boys congregated around Dom, and Letty followed trying to keep the racer chasers away from him. Mia came over to where Jo was sitting on the back of Leon's skyline. They'd been sitting on the car for about five minuets when a group of three guys walked over.

"Hey Ma, what's up?" He said addressing Jo.

"Not interested."

"Yes you are." He said standing directly in front of her.

"I think you should back off right now."

"Or what Ma" he said putting his hands on either side of her hips and pulling her off the car, and up against him.

"Let go!" Jo said loudly, causing Vince to turn his attention in their direction.

"Shit" he swore under his breath and started running through the crowd that had formed around Jo and Mia.

"What you gonna do if I don't baby." He said running his hand down her ass.

"This." Jo said pulling her fist back and punching him in the nose, hard enough to draw blood and knock him to the ground.

"Fucking bitch" he screamed catapulting himself off the ground and toward Jo, as Vince was fighting through the crowd. As he jumped off the ground and swung at her she ducked and punched him in the back, right in his kidney. His friends had enough at this point and one of them tried to take a swing, finally Vince made his way through the crowd and grabbed the guy's fist in mid-air, while stepping between Jo and her attacker. Before the other guys could retaliate Dom's booming voice rang out,

"Quit this shit. You three get the fuck out of here. Now lets go race."

Cheers went up at Dom's announcement as everyone made their ways to their cars, except Leon who had finally reached Jo's side, followed by a fairly conservatively dressed red head.

"Jo, you aight?"

"I'm fine. I told you I can handle myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Le, I'm fine."

"Good this is Amanda. Amanda this is my sister. You can talk in the car. We gotta go."

"I'm not sitting my tall ass in that little back seat."

"Jo, come on." Vince was still standing there listening to their argument. He thought Jo had a valid point, she was too tall to sit comfortably in the back seat of the skyline, and Leon clearly wanted to ride with Amanda.

"Jo, you can ride with me." Vince said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Aight, see you there Le." She said as she followed Vince to his car, he turned on the car, to blaring hip/hop music, and followed the other cars to the street. As Vince turned on the car and the hip/hop started he noticed Jo cringe.

"Not a fan?" he asked turning the stereo down

"No, sorry."

"What do you like?"

"I'm a classic rock fan."

"Really" he said with a grin "hit preset 1"

"Why?"

"Just do it." He said his grin widening as the classic rock station came on.

"I love this song." She said as AC/DC's Back in Black filled the car. Vince watched her sing and dance to the song, until the station switched to commercial. Vince once again turned it down and said,

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't like hip/hop either."

"Liar"

"Nah, I'm serious. I only listen to it when the other racers are around."

"Why?"

"Well most guys we hang around with wouldn't really understand, its not part of the culture, ya know?"

"Yeah…and by the way…thanks for stepping in with that guy back there."

"Well, no problem, by the way where'd you learn to fight like that? Cause I'm pretty sure Leon didn't teach ya…cause I've seen him fight…and he sucks at it."

"Well the punch to the face was just a reaction, and the kidney punch was…" Jo said breaking off.

"Was what?"

"I played water polo in high school, if someone was fucking with you, kidney punches kinda worked the best."

"Wow, I'm a little scared right now." Vince said with a laugh.

"Shut up!" Jo said slapping him on the arm.

"Sorry about this" Vince said switching the radio station back over to his hip/hop and upping both the volume and the bass as they pulled up to the street. She stepped out of Vince's car and leaning on the hood. Leon and Amanda came over, it looked like Leon wanted to say something to Jo but he and Vince were called away by Dom, leaving Amanda and Jo together.

"You ever been to one of these?" Amanda asked

"Nope, how's it work?"

"Well none of the team races when Dom races, and there's only one race tonight, so everyone hangs out and Dom wins, basically."

"Fair enough."

"Oh, look there lining up." Amanda said excitedly. Jo watched as 4 cars lined up on the makeshift starting line. A second later some Spanish guy yelled go and dropped his hands and all four cars shot off the line, Dom's in the lead. 10 seconds later all the cars came to a stop, Dom having won. He got out of the car and was surrounded by the entire crowd; he handed his winnings to Mia and kissed Letty passionately. Suddenly, someone shouted and every one scattered.


	5. Chapter 5

"SHIT!" Amanda yelled, "COPS, Come on." Amanda grabbed Jo's arm and dragged her over to Leon's car just as he got there.

"Let's go, Let's go."

This time Jo didn't argue and jumped in the back, followed by Amanda as Leon took off.

"So how often does this happen?" Jo asked as Leon dodged in and out of traffic.

"Not as often as you'd think." Amanda said.

"So what happens now?"

"We party." Leon stated. About fifteen minutes later Leon pulled up to the house, which was surrounded by cars everywhere. They made their way into the house and Jo was once again assaulted by hip/hop. Letty and Dom were grinding on each other in the middle of the living room floor, as were Mia and Brian and about 30 other people who Jo didn't know.

"Come on Jo, I'll show you what to do around here during a party." Amanda said.

"What about me?" Leon pouted.

"What about you…you can go entertain yourself with Vince and Jesse."

"Bitch." He mumbled with a smile.

"Yeah, but that's why you love me." She said kissing him lightly on the mouth. Amanda led Jo into the kitchen where the drinks were.

"Do you want a beer?" Amanda asked, but before Jo could answer Vince walked up behind Amanda, put an arm around her waist, pulled her back against him and growled into her ear, "Leon said something about you telling him to entertain himself with me? I don't roll like that."

"Don't pretend to be offended Vince…you know you like it." Jo snickered.

"Damn, why are you two ganging up on me?" Vince asked with a pout. Amanda ignored him and turned back to Jo, "Do you want a beer?"

"Actually…I don't like beer."

"Really, me too. It's disgusting."

"And really bitter."

"Ladies can we please wait until I leave the room to start bashing my favorite thing in life?" Vince groaned as he grabbed a Corona and left the room.

"Hey, are you up for playing a little prank on ol'Coyote?"

"Hell yeah! What's the plan?"

"Do you drink margaritas?"

"Yeah, but not with that cheap ass tequila Dom's got in here."

"Well this is you're lucky day" Amanda said with a smirk as she pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"Uhh…I don't recall orange juice being in margaritas?" Amanda smirked and opened the carton pulling out a bottle of Patron.

"Well that I drink." Jo said as Amanda pulled out all the ingredients and began mixing their drinks. They were both on their second when Vince walked back in and saw his half empty bottle of Patron on the counter, and Amanda and Jo standing next to it with their margaritas.

"Oh, you two are fucking dead!" Vince snarled launching himself at them; Amanda dodged him and ran into the living room to find Leon, while Jo sprinted out the back door. Unluckily for Jo, Vince decided to chase her rather then Amanda. Jo made it all the way around the house and ran back in through the living room, Vince hot on her tail.

"Thanks for the help bro!" She yelled at Leon as she sprinted by him.

"You have a better chance taking Vince then Amanda does sis. Take it as a compliment!"

"Stop and make it easier on yourself Jo." Vince panted, again running through the kitchen after Jo. As she turned the corner to the front of the house again, she slid on a patch of wet grass and went down, Vince tripping over her and landing hard on top of her.

"Told you it'd be easier if you stopped." He panted on top of her.

"Yeah, well those were some damn good margaritas, so it was worth it."

"And you and Leon's girl WILL be paying for my tequila."

"Or what?" Jo purred.

"Do you really wanna know?" Vince whispered in hr ear.

"Jesus Vince, you didn't have to tackle her." Leon said coming off the front porch.

"Well…when you mess with my tequila shit happens." Vince mumbled getting off Jo and helping her up before walking back into the living room.


	6. Chapter 6

It was 4 in the morning and Jo had been trying to fall back to sleep for the last 15 minutes. Finally getting fed up she quietly got out of bed and padded bare foot to the door, she quietly opened it and crept out and down the stairs. As she rounded the corner into the kitchen she let out a slight gasp as she ran into something hard and warm.

"Sorry about that." Vince said "I didn't know anyone else was up."

"I couldn't sleep." Jo said trying very hard to look into his eyes and not at his beautiful bare chest. Vince was having the same internal struggle as he tried very hard to not look at Jo standing in front of him in nothing but pajama bottoms and a tank top.

"Yeah me neither. Sorry about the whole chasing tackling thing earlier…" Vince trailed off, "Do you want some water or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be great, and don't worry about it…I'm used to rough housing with the boys. Plus, I kinda tripped you, so it's kinda my fault." Jo responded following Vince to the kitchen sink, as he handed her the water they locked eyes.

"Shit" Vince growled slamming down the glass of water, and pulling Jo into his chest and kissing her forcefully. As he ran his hands down her back and lifted her up she wrapped her legs around his waist and he was surprised to feel her tongue in his mouth as he leaned her against the kitchen counter. Vince pulled away from her mouth and latched on to her neck as she arched back against the cabinets. Suddenly, Vince and Jo both heard footsteps coming up from the basement. At the same time Vince jumped away from Jo, she jumped down from the counter, grabbed the glass of water and sped back upstairs. A second later Jesse was in the kitchen.

"Great timing bro." Vince growled at Jesse. Jesse cocked his head to the side and looked quizzically at Vince.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Vince said. Jesse stared at him for another minute before grabbing a glass of water and heading back downstairs. Vince sat in the kitchen alone for a second,

"Fuck it." He said out loud to himself before heading up the stairs to Jo's room. He slowly opened the door to her room and stepped inside.

"Do you make it a habit of sneaking into other people's rooms?" Jo asked from her bed.

"Only beautiful women's." he said leaning over the bed and kissing her passionately. Jo kissed back for a few seconds before breaking it off.

"What?" Vince asked, confused.

"I should tell you something."

"What?"

"I'm a virgin."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that I'm waiting for something that's not gonna be a two month relationship…something a little more long lasting." She said shyly. Vince looked at her for a second before kissing her again.

"I can live with that." He said softly, "Can I stay?" Jo raised her eyebrow at him.

"I'll behave…I promise" he said with a laugh.

"Fine, but you gotta be outta here before everyone else wakes up."

"Why?"

"How do you think Leon would feel if he found you up here?"

"Good point, I'll be gone." He said sliding into bed next to her, he threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. She curled herself against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. He heard her sigh and move even closer to him; it took only a few minuets before Vince heard her breaths become deeper as she drifted off to sleep. He smiled, kissed her lightly and fell asleep.

At seven the next morning everyone began waking up from the few hours of sleep they'd gotten the night before in preparation for going to work. Mia was up first, dragging Brian down stairs with her as she began to make breakfast. Letty and Dom followed a few minuets later, and Dom yelled down the stairs to wake up Leon, Jesse, and Vince.

"Letty baby will you go get Jo up please?" Dom asked. Letty glared at him but got up to get Jo, as it was her first day to work at the store. Letty went up stairs and opened the door to Jo's room. She began to walk inside, but stopped short upon seeing not just Jo, but Vince with his arms around her. She closed the door quietly and walked down stairs to Dom.

"She coming down?"

"Ahh…Dom come upstairs with me for a minute."

"Letty I'm tired."

"Just come." She said exasperated dragging him up the stairs.

"Ok, what!?"

"Vince is in there."

"What!?"

"Vince is sleeping with Jo."

"Shit, this isn't good." Dom said running his hand over his head. "Please tell me their wearing cloths at least?"

"Jo was."

"Vince wasn't?"

"Couldn't tell…his shirt was off though."

"Aight, just keep Leon from finding out I'll deal with this shit." Dom walked back into Jo's room, and sure enough Vince was cradling a sleeping Jo in his arms. Dom cleared his throat loudly, trying to get their attention. Vince stirred and glanced up at Dom, then down at Jo in his arms.

"Shit" he mumbled quietly.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Dom said.

"What's a matter?" Jo asked snuggling closer to Vince as she began to wake up.

"We have company babe." Vince said. Jo looked up at Dom and swore under her breath.

"Hey Dom…uhh…this isn't what it looks like."

"Yeah it isn't Dom."

"So you and Vince aren't sleeping together…I'm imagining this."

"Well, technically we are sleeping together but…"

"But what?"

"We didn't…uhhh"

"Didn't what?"

"Didn't…we didn't…"

"We didn't have sex Dom." Vince said spitting out what Jo couldn't.

"Really?" Dom asked skeptical

"Yeah." Jo answered. Dom sighed and answered, "Jo, why don't you go shower or go downstairs or something before Leon figures this out." Jo nodded and grabbed some cloths from the dresser before heading into the bathroom. When she'd left Dom turned his attention on Vince, "Please tell me you're wearing cloths."

"Yeah Dom, I'm wearing cloths." Vince said with a laugh.

"Good. Now get your ass in here." Dom said pointing to his room. Vince smiled and followed him into his room. As soon as Dom closed the door he rounded on Vince.

"What the fuck are you thinking?"

"I don't know what the big deal is. We didn't have sex."

"And you're not going to either. This is Leon sister, not one of the racer skanks you hook up with."

"I never said she was Dom. Look I like her a lot and I'm not looking to fuck this up."

"Is anyone working today or what?" Leon yelled up the stairs.

"Shut up Leon! We'll be down in a minute." Dom yelled down the stairs before turning back to Vince.

"Don't say anything to Leon, and keep your hands off Jo."

"I'm not stupid enough to say shit to Leon…but I don't know about keeping my hands off Jo." Vince said leaving the room before Dom could respond.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: It just occurred to me that I never set the time period for this fic. It takes place after Fast and the Furious, Vince and Jesse both lived (obviously) and Brian refused to turn over Dom and the rest of the guys, so they got off clean. Oh, Johnny Tran died. This fic is as if 2 Fast 2 Furious never happened and Brian never left LA. **

At 8:30 everyone had finished breakfast, Mia had headed off to her classes, and Brian, Letty, Jesse, Dom, and Vince were headed off to the garage, while Leon drove Jo over to the store.

"See ya at lunch girl."

"Wait, I gotta make your lazy ass lunch."

"Yeah sweetie…all of ours. Love ya."

Jo spent the first couple of hours playing solitaire on her phone completely bored. She had no customers until 12:30 when two guys rode up on motorcycles with two girls riding with them. They removed their helmets and came inside, glancing around and noticing Jo standing behind the counter.

"Can I help you with anything?" she asked cheerfully.

"Where's Mia?" One of the men asked.

"Oh, she's at school today. Are you friends of hers?"

"You could say that." He said continuing to walk around. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Jo, I'm Leon's sister. I just moved here from Florida."

"I didn't know he had a sister?"

"Yeah, apparently he doesn't talk about me much."

"If I had a sister as fine as you, I'd brag a little. Especially if I looked like Leon." The one that appeared to be the leader said looking her up and down.

"Yeah…right." Jo said uneasy of these two guys. When she heard the engines of the guys cars pull up she breathed a sigh of relief. Vince made it into the store first and stopped short seeing Jo and the two men.

"What the fuck are you doing here Tran?" Vince growled menacingly.

"Just talking to this beautiful girl" he said running a hand down her arm. By this time Dom, Leon, Jesse, Brian and Letty had entered the store.

"What the fuck Tran."

"S'up Toretto? Just checking on things over on your side of town…didn't know you had a new girl rolling with your crew or a washed up cop for that matter."

"You better get the hell outta here Lance."

"Sure Toretto, we'll see you around. Especially you sweetie." He said to Jo.

"The hell you will." Leon growled as they walked off to their motorcycles and drove off. Vince jumped over the counter and grabbed Jo by the shouldes.

"You ok?" Vince asked urgently.

"Yeah, they were just talking with me…but they were pretty creepy."

"But you're not hurt?"

"Vince I'm fine. Promise." Vince nodded quickly and looked towards Leon, who was watching intently.

"What the fuck is going on with you two?"

"Ahh…" Vince said looking first to Jo and then to Dom.

"Le lets go talk outside for a minute." Jo said

"Why? What's going on?"

"Le, please just for a minute." Jo said dragging Leon outside with her.

"Ok, what's up girl?"

"Umm…what would you think about me and Vince?"

"What do you mean? Did something happen with you two?"

"Well…kinda…yeah."

"You sleep with him?"

"Le!"

"Stop! It's a fair question."

"No its not. Leon I'm not some slut who sleeps around with every guy who shows interest."

"Yeah, maybe but Vince is the kinda guy who sleeps with every girl that shows interest, or breaths for that matter."

"I know…but he knows that's not what I want, and he respects that."

"Look, I love Vince like a brother…but you're too good for him. He's not what you want in a guy…I know you. And what happened between you two?"

"Le I'm 19 and I know you're my big brother and you want to take care of me. But I like Vince, and he knows the score, and nothings really happened."

"What's that mean? Did you kiss him? Did you sleep with him?"

"Leon!"

"What…did you?"

"We kissed…and he stayed in my room last night." Jo said with a cringe.

"HE WHAT!?"

"He stayed in my room, nothing happened."

"Yeah, you and coyote slept in the same bed last night and all you did was cuddle and make out. I know V better then that." Leon yelled.

"Well you obviously don't know him as well as you think…cause that's exactly what happened." Jo responded angrily. Leon looked at her for a minute and realized he had no choice but to believe her.

"Aight girl…I believe you. I'm just worried about you. I've known Vince for a while so…"

"Le, thanks for worrying but I'm a big girl, I can handle this." Jo said hugging him and leading him back into the store.

"We cool Leon?" Vince asked cautiously.

"Yeah dawg…but we gonna talk later."

"Yeah I figured that." Vince said.

"Aight, Jo what'd they say to you?" Dom asked.

"Well, he came in asking for Mia, and"

"He asked for Mia?"

"Yeah, he said they were friends."

"Fuck! Aight we're closing the store. I'm going to pick up Mia and Jo you're coming with me. The rest of you get back to the garage, finish the cars that need to be and get home. Let's go Jo."

"Whoa…Dom, why's Jo gotta go?" Leon asked.

"Cause she knows campus and she knows where Mia is." Dom said as Leon and Vince glared at him, "Don't worry I'll keep an eye on her."

"Yeah, and she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself guys!" Jo answered angrily.

"We don't have time for this…let's go!" Dom growled striding to his car followed closely by Jo.

"Who the fuck were those guys Dom?" Jo asked once they were in the car.

"Lance Tran."

"What's their problem? Why's everyone so freaked out?"

"We got problems with them. Lance's cousin Johnny was the one who shot Jesse, me and Brian chased them down. Johnny died. Lance is a little pissed…and really unbalanced." They pulled up in front of the UCLA campus and Jo directed Dom to the chemistry building where Mia was having her last class.

"Do you want me to go in and grab her, or we gonna wait until class is over?"

"How long until it's over?"

"3 hours…it's a lab."

"Aight you wanna go grab her. Just tell her Lance Tran and she'll know."

"Sure Dom." Jo quietly slipped into the lab and grabbed Mia.

"What's wrong?" she asked seeing Jo.

"Lance Tran came by the store today…he was asking about you."

"What?"

"Dom's outside to take you home."

"K, give me a minute." Mia walked up to her professor, talked to him for a minute, grabbed her bag and followed Jo out the door.

"What did you tell him?"

"Family emergency." Mia grabbed her backpack and followed Jo outside to where Dom was waiting.

"You ok?" he asked urgently.

"I'm fine Dom; let's just get the hell out of here."

"Where's you car?"

"Right here" she said leading them to the nearest parking lot. 

"Fine, I'm gonna follow you, don't get away from me, got it?"

"Yeah, shit Dom…" Mia said tears forming in her eyes. Dom hugged her close, "It's gonna be fine, don't worry. Ok?"

"Mia, you want me to ride with you?" Jo asked.

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Just be careful please, and don't get away from me." The ride home was thankfully uneventful. Brian was waiting on the porch when both cars pulled into the driveway. Mia got out of the car and met Brian as he came off the porch, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You ok Mia?"

"I'm fine."

"Where's everyone else?"

"At the garage…a couple more cars came in."

"Aight, stay here, keep an eye on things…uhh…Jo you should probably come with me cause I'm pretty sure Leon and Vince want to keep their eyes you."

"Why V?" Mia asked.

"Ask Brian, come on Jo." Dom said getting back in his car. As soon as Dom's car pulled back up in front of the garage Leon, Vince and Letty scrambled out.

"Mia ok?" Letty asked, Dom nodded and pulled Letty into a tight hug, and kissed the top of her head. "Let's get these cars done so we can get the hell outta here." The group followed Dom inside and split up to work on their various cars. Before Vince went back to the BMW Z-3 he was working on, he pulled Jo off to the side.

"Let's go out tonight…just me and you."

"I'd love to but…what about Leon?"

"I'll talk to him." He said kissing her quickly before heading back to the car he was working on.

**A/N: So sorry for a not so eventful chapter. But it is what it is, and as this story is completely writing itself, this is where it wanted to go. Hope you guys enjoyed it, please review and let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Leon, can I ask you something bro?"

"Does it have to do with my sister whose five years younger then you, and who you spent the night with?"

"Yeah…I wanna take her to dinner tonight…but she didn't think you'd be cool with that so…what do you think?"

"I think she's too young for you, and too good for you. But for some fucking reason she likes you."

"Leon this isn't like being with the skanks…it's not like that with Jo. I really like her. I'm not looking to get laid Leon."

"You better not be…where you taking her?"

"Not sure yet…somewhere on the beach prolly…but I got another question."

"What?"

"She told you I stayed in her room last night, right?"

"Yeah, and she told me nothing happened."

"Nothing happened bro honest. But if tonight goes well and she asks me to stay…I don't want you to be pissed Leon."

"You not gonna do anything?"

"I'm not gonna do anything she don't wanna do too."

"That's reassuring." Leon replied sarcastically.

"She's 19 Le, if she wants to…"

"Don't finish that sentence if you don't want me to beat the hell outta you."

"But you get what I'm saying bro."

"Yeah…but I ain't happy about it." Vince patted him on the back and turned to go back in the house.

"V, if you hurt her I'll kill you."

"I'm not gonna hurt her Leon." He turned and walked back into the garage, Dom had just finished the last car and everyone was getting ready to leave.

"Let's get the hell outta here."

"Ride home with me Jo." Leon said ignoring the glare he was getting from Vince.

"So…I talked to Vince…he wants to take you out tonight."

"Yeah I know, look, I'm going whether you want me to or not, but I want you to be ok with it."

"I'm not all that happy about it. But I trust you…and Vince…just promise me you won't do anything you'll regret later."

"Leon, I'm a big girl, nothings gonna happen that I don't want. And if tomorrow morning Vince happens to be in my room…"

"I'd prefer that wasn't gonna happen…since you barely know him and he's 5 years older then you."

"Come on Leon! Dom doesn't do this with Mia."

"Not anymore he doesn't you shoulda seen him when Brian first moved in. We were under strict instruction to make sure they weren't alone in the same room together…ever."

"Yeah but he got over it…"

"Yeah he did…but it took months. Sorry girl. But it's ok with me if you have dinner with V." Leon replied as they got out of the car.

"Thanks Le, love you." She said hugging him before running to where Vince was coming up the lawn and jumping on his back. He piggy-backed her up the stairs and into the house, Leon shook his head and followed.

"So where we going V?" she asked once he'd dropped her on the couch and lay down next to her.

"Dinner, soon…so go get ready."

"I got that V, but I need to know what to wear."

"Dress warm."

"Ok, then I'm gonna go get dressed." She said getting off the couch and going to her room.

"Big plans tonight Vince?" Dom asked as Vince walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm taking Jo to dinner."

"Leon know?"

"Yeah."

"Behave."

"Always." Vince went down to his room and showered quickly; he shaved and changed into jeans, boots, and a tight long sleeve black shirt. He grabbed his leather jacket before heading back upstairs to find Jo changed already and waiting for him. She was wearing jeans, flip-flops, and a long-sleeve lavender Billabong shirt, although it covered her completely it was tight and drew Vince's attention to her flat stomach and well developed chest.

"What took you so long?" she asked sweetly from her place on the couch. He strode towards her as she stood and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Sorry, I'm used to waiting for hours on Letty and Mia." He said, as Letty smacked him in the back of the head.

"I don't take hours to get ready." She said as Dom, and Leon came up behind her. Vince glared at her before turning back to Jo.

"Let's go, before Brian, Mia and Jesse get here…see y'all later." They got in his car and started driving out to the beach. It was dark when they pulled into a parking lot in front of a small building.

"This it?"

"Trust me." He said leaning into the car and coming out with a black leather jacket, "you might need this." They walked into the building and were immediately stopped by a host who looked condescendingly at Vince.

"Sorry, you must have a reservation."

"I have one."

"And what name would that be under?" he sneered

"Caraceni." Vince responded through gritted teeth. The man looked down his list and looked back up with a confused look.

"For two?" Vince nodded. "This way please." Vince sighed, put his arm around Jo and followed the man out onto the beach.

"Caraceni, huh?" Jo asked with a smile, Vince smirked at her as they continued to follow the host outside.

"Wow." Jo gasped as they made their way onto the beach. There were small fires stretched all along the beach. There were normal wooden restaurant booths wrapped around individual fire pits dug down into the sand. The only light on the tables were from the fire pit in front of the table and some candles on the table. Each table sat 6 feet from the nearest table giving an air of privacy to each diner.

"Vince this is amazing. How'd you find this place?" Jo asked as they sat down.

"Your brother actually. But he wouldn't be too happy about me bringing you here."

"Why's that?' Jo asked trying to hide her chattering teeth.

"Because" Vince said handing her his leather jacket he'd brought from the car, "I think he'd be much happier if we were someplace more crowded and less…"

"Romantic?" She questioned quirking an eyebrow.

"Is that what it is?" He asked smirking and sliding closer.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it is." She said as Vince moved in to kiss her.

"Hi, I'm Christian I'll be your server tonight. Would you like to start out with some drinks?" Vince growled slightly at the interruption but recovered quickly and glanced at Jo for her order.

"Do you have iced tea?"

"Yes ma'm."

"Then I'll have that."

"And for you sir?"

"You have Corona?"

"Yes sir…I'll be back with your drinks shortly." They sat in silence for a few minutes, both watching the flames from the fire.

"So you're Italian?"

"100...what about you?"

"Well, I'm half-Italian, and the rest of me is like 5 of every country in Western Europe."

"Aight…so what's your full name…since I'm guessing it ain't Jo."

"Oh, I'm not telling you that."

"Why?"

"Cause its embarrassing, and I haven't gone by it since 2nd grade." Before Vince could respond they were once again interrupted with their drinks. The waiter took their order, Vince ordered lasagna, as a tribute to his Italian heritage, and Jo ordered grilled chicken and mashed potatoes, about 15 minuets later their food arrived and both of them dug in quickly.

"So I see you're not one of those girls who can't eat in front of guys." Vince said with a chuckle.

"I never understood those girls…everyone's gotta eat, so why be embarrassed by it."

"I agree." Vince stated as he continued to ravenously eat his pasta. They finished at around the same time, Vince paid the bill and they stood to leave.

"You wanna take a walk?" Vince asked Jo.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." She said as he once again pulled her against his side with a strong arm around her waist.


	9. Chapter 9

They'd been walking along the beach for about 10 minuets, finally having gotten away from main strip; they were walking along a disserted stretch of beach.

"This is really nice Vince. Thanks for taking me here."

"No problem. So…have I earned the right to stay with you tonight?"

"I think that could be arranged." She said pulling him down to her for a kiss. He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him, slipping his tongue inside, past her parted lips. He felt her moan slightly into his mouth as he ran his hands up her back, surprising him.

"Like that huh?" he growled.

"Ummhmm." She breathed before pulling him back towards her and continuing their kiss. Jo was beginning to run out of air when Vince abruptly pulled away…or so she thought until two sets of hands grabbed her arms.

"What the fuck!" she yelled turning around to see the guy from the diner earlier, with another guy. She looked back towards Vince; he was being forced to his knees with his hands pinned behind him by 4 other guys.

"Well, this just makes you even more valuable to me sweetie. Leon's sis and Vince's bitch." Lance sneered. Vince tried to lunge for him but was held strong by the 4 guys behind him. Lance let go of Jo and moved towards Vince,

"What…she's not yours Vince?" Lance asked along with a swift punch to his jaw, "Good then you don't mind do you?" he asked striding back towards Jo. He circled around her, looking her up and down.

"Get the fuck away from her." Vince snarled from his place in the sand, spitting blood from his mouth. One of the guys holding him took that as an opportunity and kneed him in the chest, Vince doubled over gasping for air.

"You're not in control here, keep that in mind. I call all the fucking shots," Lance yelled pulling a gun from his waistband and forcing it against Vince temple. "You got that?" he asked threateningly. Vince didn't answer; he glanced over Lance's shoulder towards Jo. Lance pressed the gun harder into his temple.

"Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good." He said returning the gun to his waistband and turning to face Jo again. The man that had been holding her moved towards Vince, allowing Lance to grip her arm.

"How bout we take a walk sweetie." Lance said trying to pull her away with him. Vince lunged again only to be forced face first into the ground and kicked swiftly in the ribs. Lance chuckled and tried pulling Jo away with him; she finally managed to pull free of his grip and punched him hard across the face. She turned to run but was tackled hard from behind by one of Lance's cronies.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch." He growled into her ear as Lance got up.

"Yes she is." Lance snarled getting to his feet and walking towards where Jo was pinned to the ground. He bent down and drove his knee into her back, she gasped in pain.

"Leave her the hell alone Lance. She's got nothing to do with this." Vince yelled from where he was being held on the ground.

"Shut up! You shoulda taught your bitch to listen to her superiors."

"Fuck you." Jo yelled.

"Fine…you're gonna regret that." Lance said gripping her arm and pulling it behind her back. She twisted underneath him trying to throw him off-balance,

"FUCK LANCE! SHE"S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!" Vince yelled. Lance smirked at him over his shoulder, putting more pressure on Jo's arm. Vince struggled uselessly with the men holding him for another second before hearing a faint pop and yelp from Jo, who'd gone limp. Lance stood and walked to Vince,

"Tell Toretto this is only the beginning."

"I'm gonna fucking kill you for this." Vince ground out through gritted teeth. Lance smirked and walked away, followed slowly by his men. As soon as he was released Vince scrambled to Jo, who was still lying motionless on the sand. He sat next to her and pulled her onto his lap.

"Come on baby…wake up Jo." He said gently tapping her face, and brushing sand from her face. A few seconds later her eyes fluttered open, Vince breathed a sigh of relief,

"Shit, Jo…are you ok?"

"Yeah…but I think he dislocated my shoulder…you ok?"

"Couple of bruises. But I'm fine. Let's get the hell outta here…can you walk?"

"Yeah." She said getting slowly to her feet, clutching her injured arm against her chest. The two of them made it slowly back to Vince's car. He gently helped her inside the car, before getting in himself and driving away.

"There's a hospital a couple miles from here…as soon as we get there I'll call your brother."

"Well I'm sure that'll be a fun conversation." She said. They traveled in silence until they reached the hospital. Vince helped Jo to a seat inside and went to sign her in, before sitting back down next to her with a deep sigh.

"Some date huh?"

"Vince, besides the whole shoulder, gun thing…I had a great time."

"Really…?" She nodded, leaned over and kissed him gently,

"Really." Vince smiled and said, "I've gotta call your brother…cause if I don't he'll kill me…and then Dom'll kill me."

"Well I can't have that." She said as they called her name to go in. Vince followed her to the door before he was stopped by a nurse.

"I'm sorry sir, only family is allowed back here." He glanced towards Jo,

"It's fine V…just go call Leon, I'm fine." He nodded and went outside to call Leon.

Meanwhile, back at the Toretto house Brian and Mia had gone out to dinner, Letty and Dom were watching TV, Jesse was doing god knows what on his computer, and Leon was fooling around with Amanda in his room. They were making out on his bed, when they were interrupted by the loud ringing of Leon's cell phone.

"Just let it ring, baby." Amanda said kissing his neck, as Leon pulled her closer to him, kissing her hungrily on the mouth, as the phone continued to ring.

"Shit!" he yelled pulling away from Amanda and picking up his cell.

"What?"

"Leon it's V."

"V, what's up? What's wrong?"

"Umm…you need to meet us at the hospital near the beach."

"What? Why? Is Jo ok?"

"Yeah, Leon she's fine…well…she's got a dislocated shoulder, but otherwise she's fine. But I think you should come."

"How did she dislocate her shoulder? What the hell is going on?"

"Look, Leon I don't feel like going into it right now…but just tell Dom Lance is around and he's pissed."

"Shit, aight I'll be right there." Leon hung up and started looking for his shoes.

"What's wrong Le?"

"Put your shoes on, we need to get to the hospital. Jo's got a dislocated shoulder.

"How?"

"I don't know. V didn't say. I'll meet you upstairs I gotta talk to Dom." Leon said running up the stairs.

"What's a matter bro?" Dom asked seeing Leon run into the living room.

"V called, I gotta go to the hospital."

"What happened?"

"Jo dislocated her shoulder."

"How?"

"I don't know…something to do with Lance Tran."

"Fuck…aight. Hang on…" Dom got up and walked upstairs, he came back down carrying a shotgun and two 9mm handguns.

"Here," he said handing Leon the two handguns, "for you and V. Be careful and come straight back to the fort." Leon took the gun and put it in the back of his waistband, as Amanda came up the stairs.

"Leon, what's going on?" Amanda asked, seeing the guns Dom had given Leon.

"Nothing babe…you know…just in case."

"In case of what?"

"Babe, can we discuss this in the car…I gotta get to my sis."

"Ok."

Vince was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, and he wasn't a patient man. He finally broke and stomped to the nurse at the desk.

"Can you please, tell me how my girlfriend is?" He said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry sir…I can only give patient information to family members. Please have a seat." The nurse responded cheerfully, Vince shot her his patented get-the-fuck-out-of-my- way look and she recoiled. Luckily for both of them, before Vince could explode, Leon came sprinting in through the front door Amanda right behind him.

"V, where is she?"

"They took her back…and only family's allowed back there" he said glaring at the nurse. Leon looked to the nurse and said,

"Yeah, I'm looking for my sister she…"

"Dislocated shoulder right?"

"Yeah, can I see her?"

"Sure follow me please," As she came around the desk Leon turned to Amanda,

"Babe, stay with Vince, I'll be right back." As Leon followed the nurse back, Vince went back to his seat and hung his head in his hands.

"You ok Coyote?"

"I was supposed to keep her safe… I should have done something."

"Vince, I don't know what happened…but I know you, and I know if there was anything you could've done to stop them hurting Jo, you would have."

"Yeah, but I didn't stop them."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry I took so long to update, it was a nasty combination of midterms, papers and, I'm sorry to say a small case of writers block. But not to worry, I finally know where this story is going and I should be able to update more frequently…hopefully. Anyway, please read and review…I do love feedback!!**

Leon quickly followed the nurse back to the emergency area. They walked down a couple of hallways, past about a dozen private rooms, until they walked to an area divided by bunches of curtains. The nurse pulled back a curtain revealing Jo sitting up in a bed wearing a hospital gown.

"Hey Le"

"Jesus baby girl, are you ok?"

"I'm fine Le really…did you see Vince" Leon nodded. "Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine…shit."

"Leon I'm fine, they took a set of x-rays and I'm just waiting for the doctor to come back."

"That's it?"

"Well he examined it"

"What'd he say?"

"He says its dislocated, but he had to do x-rays to be sure." Leon sighed and kissed her forehead.

"What happened?"

"Do we have to do this now…can't we just wait til we get back to the fort, and I think Vince should be here too."

"Whatever you want darling." He said kissing her cheek, as the doctor walked in.

"So you talked them into letting your boyfriend back here I see."

"No such luck, this is my brother."

"Oh, sorry. These," he said putting an x-ray on the reader "are your x-rays, and that, is your dislocated shoulder."

"Great" Leon sighed "what's that mean?"

"I'll have to reduce it…uhhh…pop it back in place. Then we'll take post-reduction films and she should be free to go."

"Le, can you go update Vince since they won't let him back here…I know it's driving him crazy." Leon looked unwilling to leave, but agreed and left to tell Vince. As soon as he was gone Jo turned to the doctor,

"Do you think you could pop it back in before he gets back?"

"Sure the nurse already numbed you. But why the hurry?' He asked as he began to position her arm.

"I'd rather my brother not be here for this." The doctor nodded and with a quick flick of his wrist her shoulder was popped back in place.

"Fuck." She said under her breath.

"Yeah sorry. We have the portable x-ray here, give me a few seconds and I can get you outta here."

In the mean time Leon had made his way back out to Vince and Amanda.

"She ok?" Vince asked jumping to his feet.

"The doctor says its dislocated, he's got to pop it back in."

"What about her? She in pain?"

"Nah, she says she's ok. But I'm gonna go back in, it shouldn't be too much longer though."

"You're right it won't." Jo said walking back through the doors, her arm in a sling. Leon walked up and put his arm around her waist.

"You shoulda had him wait for me to come back babe."

"I told him to do it before you got back. Can we just go home?"

"Yeah baby girl. Come on." Leon said leading her from the emergency room. When they got outside Vince saw that Leon's car was parked next to his. As they got to the cars, Vince pulled Jo slightly to the side, opening Leon's passenger side door for her,

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Vince sighed loudly and nodded, walking over to his car. Before he got in Leon stopped him and handed him one of the hand guns,

"Just in case." He said barely looking at him before turning back to get in his car. Vince got in his car and pulled out after Leon, following him back to the fort. As tired as Vince was and as ready as he was to go home, he dreaded getting there, knowing Leon was pissed at him. And he couldn't blame him…he hadn't protected Jo, it was his responsibility to keep her safe and he'd failed. Much sooner then he'd hoped, he found his car pulling into the long driveway to the fort. Leon jumped out to help Jo, who looked slightly annoyed by him treating her this way. Leon, Jo and Amanda walked quickly into the house, Vince trudged up behind them, not eager to meet what, he was sure, would be waiting for him inside the house. He hated the idea of having to relive the entire experience, and he hated even more the idea of Jo having to relive it.

They walked inside and were immediately accosted by Dom, Letty, Jesse, Brian, and Mia. They all broke out talking at once so that none of them could be completely understood.

"SHUT IT!" Dom finally yelled, quieting everyone. "You two ok?" he asked Vince and Jo.

"I'm fine Dom. But I've got sand all over me and I'm gonna go shower." Jo said walking up the stairs to her room. Dom glanced to Vince, who nodded that he was ok. As Jo went upstairs to shower Dom noticed the looks Leon was shooting Vince and knew that they needed to talk.

"Girls, why don't you go upstairs, see if Jo needs any help when she gets out of the shower…I don't think she can move all that well." Amanda and Mia agreed and walked upstairs, but Letty remained in the living room.

"Letty…"Dom began.

"What Dom, Jo's got plenty of help." Dom opened his mouth to argue but the look on her face told him not to bother, he couldn't help but smile when she got like this…it was just like him.

"What happened Vince?"

"Nothin man. I wasn't paying attention and Lance and his guys jumped us." Before anyone could respond they heard Mia upstairs calling for Letty, she cursed under her breath but went upstairs anyway. As soon as she was out of the room Leon lunged at Vince both arms swinging, his first two swings were unexpected and caught Vince in his eye, and across his already bruised jaw. Vince fought back managing to roll on top of Leon before Dom yanked him off and dragged him into the back yard. Brian and Jesse grabbed Leon and did the same, pulling him outside.

"What the fuck was that about?" Dom yelled at Leon.

"He was supposed to fucking protect her, she spends a couple hours with him and he can't even keep her safe.

"Leon…" Dom began only to be interrupted by Vince.

"You don't think I fucking know that, she was mine to protect and I couldn't…you have no idea how shitty I feel right now Leon…. I shoulda kept her safe."

"Leon go inside." Dom said.

"Why the fuck should I…"

"Because I fucking said so. GO!" Leon reluctantly went inside followed by Brian and Jesse.

"Aight bro, what really happened?"

"I took her to that restaurant on the beach with the fire pits…"

"Yeah, then what?"

"We went for a walk on the beach, we got past the main part of the strip and…"

"And what?"

"We were making out, that's why I didn't see them coming behind us."

"Can't blame you for that man…I'd be distracted by that too."

"Yeah, well I didn't think that'd be the best thing to say in front of Leon…but anyway, 4 of em came up behind me, Lance and another guy grabbed Jo."

"So there were 6 of em?"

"Yeah, anyway they knocked me around for a while, then Lance tried to take Jo away with him, I tried to pull free and fucker pulls a gun."

"Shit, Lance was packing?"

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure the rest of them were packing too. Lance puts the gun to my head, told me he was calling the shots, he tries to pull her away again, she punched him and tried to bolt, but one of the fuckers holding me tackled her. Lance came over forced her to the ground and popped her shoulder out."

"Shit, Vince…if you'd pushed him anymore he'd a killed you."

"I guess but…"

"But nothing…I'm gonna go talk to Leon…you look like shit, go shower."

"Thanks dawg." Vince and Dom walked back inside, Vince went straight down stairs to shower, and Dom motioned for Leon to go back outside with him.

"What Dom?"

"Lay off on Vince. There was nothing he could have done."

"Right Dom…Vince's got a bruised jaw, my sister's got a dislocated shoulder, and Vince did everything he could." Leon said sarcastically.

"Leon you don't know shit. There were 6 guys, Lance was packing and Vince is pretty sure the other guys were too. If he'd tried shit Lance could've killed both of them."

"Whatever Dom…think about if it were Mia." Leon said walking back into the house. Dom ran his hand over his head and followed him inside. The girls were back downstairs sitting on the couch watching Jesse play Brian in Need for Speed.

"Well…I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed." Mia said looking pointedly at Brian.

"Yeah me too." Brain said with a large fake yawn and a stretch, following Mia upstairs quickly. Jesse and Letty snickered and Dom just shook his head.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna get some sleep too, guys. See ya in the morning." Jo said getting up to go upstairs. Leon got up to follow her.

"Leon, if you follow me, I swear to god, I'm going to have to kill you. Now good night." Amanda grabbed Leon and started pulling him downstairs.

"She's fine Leon, come on." Everyone else followed making their way to their respective rooms. Dom waited for Vince to come back upstairs, but after an hour he too gave up and went to join Letty upstairs.

**A/N: For anyone who happens to know how to actually fix a dislocated shoulder, I apologize…my limited knowledge of medicine comes from ER, so, yeah if I'm totally incorrect I'm sorry**


	11. Chapter 11

Jo went upstairs, but she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Lance standing there, holding a gun against Vince's head. She tossed and turned for a couple of hours, trying to think of anything else, but unable to. Finally she gave up and went downstairs, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down. She'd heard Leon and Vince fighting downstairs, she knew Leon was mad, and that Vince blamed himself for her being hurt, he'd been avoiding her since they left the hospital. "Screw this." She thought, leaving the water and heading quietly into the basement. She quietly opened the door to Vince's room and slipped in side.

"Can't sleep either huh?" he said from his bed.

"No, and I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Cause you've been avoiding me since we got back from the hospital…and I heard you and Leon earlier." He rubbed his eyes tiredly,

"You did huh?"

"Vince, you're not blaming yourself for this, are you?"

"Jo…I was supposed to protect you, and I couldn't."

"Vince, stop it. I'm gonna have a sore shoulder for a couple of days, I'm a big girl, I can handle it. You and my brother have to figure that out." She turned to leave,

"Jo, don't leave."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm pretty sure you told me earlier I could stay the night with you." He said with a smirk

"Yeah, Leon's gonna love that…move over." She said. He laughed quietly and moved over so she could lie down.

"How's the arm?"

"Fine…now shut up, I'm tired." She lay so she was flat on her back, the only way that didn't hurt her shoulder.

"Now how do you expect me to hold you lying on your back?"

"You're a smart guy figure it out." She said without looking at him.

"Is that a challenge?"

"I guess so…"

"Good, I like a challenge." He said rolling onto his side, resting his head on her uninjured shoulder, while wrapping his arm around her waist.

"I see you figured it out." She said kissing the top of his head.

Vince was just drifting off to sleep when he heard a faint pounding upstairs. He listened intently for a few minuets as the pounding continued, finally he heard movement upstairs, he unwrapped himself from Jo, and gently reached under the pillow for the 9mm Leon had given him earlier. As he got out of the bed he felt Jo stir.

"V…what's a matter?"

"I don't know baby, just stay down here ok?"

"Vince you are not leaving me down here."

"Jo…"

"Come on V." She said walking out of his room and bumping right into Leon.

"Fuck, Jo stay down here…"

"Go to hell Leon." She said turning to go upstairs, just as the door opened and Dom came down.

"What's going on Dom?" Vince asked.

"You guys should come up here. We're in deep shit." Dom said turning and heading back up the stairs. Leon, Jo, and Vince stood still for a minute, until Amanda emerged from Leon's room.

"What's up guys?" she asked nervously.

"Nothin babe, Dom wants us upstairs…and I'll talk to YOU later." He said to Jo.

"Whatever Leon." Jo said putting her arm around Vince's waist and walking upstairs with him. Everyone was already gathered in the kitchen when Vince, Jesse, Jo, Leon, and Amanda made it upstairs.

"What's up Dom?"

"Johnny Tran's sister was just here. She wanted to warn Mia…"

"About what?"

"Her dad's pissed…he blames us for Johnny dying, and he's the one who's telling Lance and them to go after us."

"But why would she be warning Mia?"

"She says her father wants Lance to go after what would hurt us the most."

"Meaning?"

"Right now, Mia, Letty, Amanda, and Jo…but mostly Jo and Mia."

"What!?" Leon and Vince asked at once.

"She says her father wants Lance to kidnap them…and by kidnapping Jo and Mia, they directly get to me, Brian and you two." At this Brian pulled Mia into his lap and held her close, she was shaking noticeably.

"So what do we do?" Jesse asked. They all looked to Dom, who just shook his head, "I don't know." They sat in silence for a few minuets, Lance wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but Johnny's father was smart and rich…and that made him dangerous.

"There's something else." Dom said after a few moments. "She told me her father didn't send Lance after you guys tonight V…he was pissed at him for it. She says Lance has a thing for Jo…he's been tailin her. He got mad when he saw you two together, that's why he went after you."

"Fuck." Leon cursed under his breath. "Jo, you're going back to Florida in the morning."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to Leon! I'm not a five year old."

"Shit, Jo…it's not safe here. You need to get the hell outta LA."

"He's right Jo…you should get a flight out as soon as possible." Dom said

"Guys, I'm not leaving!" She was starting to get frustrated and Vince could tell, he put an arm around her waist and pulled her into the living room.

"Vince, I'm not leaving."

"Baby, look…I don't want you to leave…but you should."

"V…I'M-NOT-LEAVING."

"Lance doesn't fuck around if he's interested in you; you need to get the FUCK out of LA." Vince said raising his voice, "I don't care if I have to drag you to LAX myself, you're getting on a fucking plane back to Florida." He growled grabbing her good arm roughly.

"So this is the famous Coyote temper I've heard so much about." She asked acidly, Vince flinched, took a deep breath and continued.

"I mean it Jo…I'm not letting you stay here. You're leaving in the morning." Vince said dropping her arm and walking back downstairs.

Hearing Vince stomp downstairs Leon walked into the living room.

"Amanda, and Mia are going to stay with some friends of Mia's in Seattle, and Letty's going to New York to stay with her cousin…Dom wants all you guys outta here until we can figure out how to deal with this…Jesse's going to get flights out for you and Letty in the morning, and Mia and Amanda are gonna take a couple days and drive out to Seattle."

"Whatever Leon, I'm gonna go try and get a couple hours of sleep, and I'm not leaving." Jo said walking upstairs to her room rather than downstairs to Vince. Leon walked back into the kitchen; Jesse had gone downstairs to look for flights for Jo and Letty, Brian had gone back upstairs trying to keep Mia calm. Letty and Dom were having the same argument in the kitchen that Jo and Vince had already had in the living room.

"Bullshit Dom! I'm not afraid of some skinny little bastard. I kicked his ass once, and I'll do it again."

"Letty we're not having this conversation, you're getting on a plane to New York in the morning, and that's final!" Dom yelled, she glared at him for a minute, but seeing the look on his face silenced her and she too stomped upstairs. Amanda had watched the entire exchange silently until Leon walked in.

"I'm gonna go sleep a couple hours, you ok Leon?"

"Yeah. I'll be down in a few minuets." He said kissing her cheek and watching her walk downstairs, just as Vince walked back up, leaving Dom, Vince and Leon alone in the kitchen.

"Letty's gonna fight be the entire way to LAX." Dom said.

"Yeah, Jo had the same reaction…so what're we gonna do?"

"I don't know about you but if I have to knock Jo out cold and carry her there, she's getting on that fucking plane." Vince growled.

"And I'll help." Leon added.

"This isn't gonna end it…but I don't know what else to do." Dom said.

"This is all we can do right now bro…let's just get the girls outta hell…then we'll deal with the fucking Trans." Vince said. Dom nodded and headed back up the stairs to Letty, ready for another fight. Leon and Vince headed back down stairs, as they reached the landing Leon stopped Vince with a hand on his arm.

"Thanks for agreeing with me with Jo…I don't think I could get her to go otherwise."

"Don't worry about it…but I think together were gonna have a hard fucking time getting her to go." Leon nodded and made his way back downstairs with Vince, they checked on Jesse who had flights booked for both Jo and Letty, both flying out of LAX at noon.

At 7 o'clock the next morning Dom, Leon and Vince were up and in the kitchen. Neither girl was going to leave LA happily and neither knew when the flights were booked.

"Well we gotta get em up soon, they gotta pack and shit, and Jesse says we need to have them there by like 10:30." Leon said.

"We should have them just pack one bag and well ship em the rest…its faster."

"Yeah, good idea V…fuck Letty's gonna kill me." Dom moaned loudly.

"Probably…morning guys." Mia said stepping into the kitchen. Dom got up and wrapped her in a bear hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Let me go Dom…I'm fine…just need some coffee. And shouldn't you boys go get Letty and Jo up…don't they have flights sometime today."

"You wanna go wake Jo for me?" Leon asked innocently.

"No thanks Leon…I value my life." Leon groaned, standing up with Dom and heading up the stairs, Vince followed behind knowing Leon would need backup. Leon slipped into Jo's room; Vince stood just outside the door, and gently shook her.

"Come on Jo, you gotta catch your flight." He said quietly. She looked at him and said,

"Fuck you." Before closing her eyes and ignoring him. Leon shook his head at Vince and again shook her.

"Leon if you don't get the hell outta here right now, I'm gonna cut off a part of your anatomy that I know you'll miss." She said acidly before once again ignoring him. Vince lost his patience at this and stomped into the room, he yanked the covers off of her before quickly slipping an arm under her knees and behind her back, cradling her uninjured shoulder against his chest.

"Put me the fuck down Vince!"

"I told you I'd drag you there if I have to and I meant it!" he said walking into the bathroom, dumping her into the tub and turning on the shower soaking her and him at the same time. She let out a yelp as the cold water hit her cursing at Vince, as he walked out shutting the door.

"What was that about?" Asked Dom coming out of his room looking, like Leon, a little shell-shocked.

"Nothin, Jo's in the shower." Vince answered heading back downstairs to change out of his now wet cloths.

"Do I want to know?" Dom asked

"Nah, Letty up?"

"Uhh…more or less…"

"What happened Dom?"

"She threw my shoe at my head. But she's up." He said walking back into the kitchen, where the rest of the team was gathered and Mia was making breakfast.

By 9:30 Dom, Leon and Vince were waiting in the living room for the girls to finish packing a couple of things in a carry-on, as the boys would be shipping them the rest of their stuff later.

Letty came down the stairs first she ignored Dom completely before going over to Mia and Amanda and hugging them good bye, then moving over to Brian and Jesse and doing the same. Mia and Amanda were leaving in a few hours to start the drive to Seattle and Jesse and Brian were following them the first part of the drive…just in case. After saying her good-byes she walked out into the front yard and waited by Dom's car.

"Where's Jo?" Dom asked.

"Still upstairs I guess…I'll go get her." Leon said turning to head up the stairs.

"Wait…Leon she's already pissed at me, it doesn't make sense to get her pissed at both of us…I'll get her."

"You're not gonna hit her…right?"

"Naw dawg I ain't gonna hit her." Vince chuckled, walking up the stairs. He made it to her room and walked in, she was sitting on her bed with her back to the door.

"Come on Jo, you're gonna miss your flight."

"What a shame…you gonna carry me or am I allowed to walk myself." She said sarcastically. He growled low in his throat, and took a deep breath before answering,

"You can walk…but I'll fucking carry you if you're not up in 10 seconds." This was too much for her she jumped off the bed and got in his face.

"I'm a grown ass women Vince! If you try to make me do something I don't wanna do again, like this morning, I'll beat the shit outta you. Understand sweetie?"

"Oh yeah I understand. But do you understand that we're doing this to keep you safe and not for our own fucking amusement. You think I want you to fucking leave? I'm kicking your ass outta this house so you'll be safe, so shut the hell up and get your ass downstairs." He yelled straight at her. She walked back to the other side of the bed and picked up her bag, as she headed back out the door, where Vince was still standing she shoved him as hard as she could making him stumble into the wall. Before he could react she was down the stairs, in the living room, saying her good byes to Mia, Amanda, Jesse and Brian.

As soon as Vince was back downstairs it was time to go. Dom and Letty went outside and piled into his RX-7, him, Leon and Jo piled into Leon's Skyline, Jo in the back as far from the boys as possible. The ride to the airport was silent, except for the radio playing the background. Vince really wanted to say something to Jo, to apologize for being a jerk and tell her she could stay, but he knew it was for the best, and if she was pissed at him she'd leave easier. Finally, LAX came into view and Leon parked next to Dom in the parking lot. They got out of their cars and headed to the busy terminal. Dom and Letty had apparently talked it out in the car as Dom's arm was around her shoulder keeping her close to him, and she was letting him. The boys went as far as the security check before they had to leave. Dom kissed Letty deeply for a full minute before letting go. She hugged Vince and Leon and got into the security line. Jo walked over and hugged Leon tight,

"I'm sorry about all the shit girl, you gonna call me when you get home?"

"I guess…love ya Leon." She said turning to hug Dom. She glanced over at Vince who was standing off to the side scowling, and rather then get into it with him again she turned and got into the security line beside Letty.

"Vince" Dom said, trying to get his attention, Vince looked up as Dom motioned towards Jo. Vince shook his head and started walking out of the terminal.

"Jesus that man's stubborn."

"Almost as stubborn as Jo." Leon said following him out of the terminal.


	12. Chapter 12

Jo had been back in Florida for two week, rather then go through the hassle of trying to get back into classes she'd dropped, she was taking a break. She'd moved into an apartment with a friend in Miami, and was looking for a job. She'd spoken to Leon twice since she'd been back in Florida, but she hadn't tried to talk to Vince and he hadn't called her, which was why she'd been moping around her new apartment for the last 2 weeks.

"Jo, get up, and put this on!" Melissa, Jo's roommate, said barging into her room and throwing a slinky red dress at her.

"Mel, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You've been moping around here for two weeks, all you do is sit here, or look for jobs, you haven't been out once since you got here. And I just wrangled an invite to the opening of Club Ultra, everyone's gonna be there and so are we. Now get dressed, we're leaving in an hour."

"Mel…" Jo groaned.

"No, we're going out tonight; I'll drag you there in your PJ's if I have to. So one hour, got it?"

"Yeah," Jo said with a sigh, "I got it." As she slowly dressed she couldn't help but think of Vince, he'd love me in this dress, she thought looking herself over in the mirror. She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and headed out to the living room where Melissa was finishing her makeup.

"Ok," she said standing from the mirror she'd been looking at, "you're turn."

"No, no, no, I'm fine with the way I look."

"Yeah, you look good, but goods not gonna cut it tonight baby. I'm doing your hair and makeup so sit down, we don't have much time."

"Melissa…come on."

"Jo, you been moping around here two weeks over that jackass in Cali, tonight you're gonna go hook up with some hot ass man at the club."

"Ok, first of all, I don't hook up with people, but you're right. I shouldn't let Vince piss me off like this, so do your thing." Melissa let out a squeal and hugged Jo around the shoulders.

"You're gonna look so hot when I'm done with you." Half an hour later Jo and Melissa were in the long line to get into the opening of Club Ultra, Jo was wearing the slinky red halter top dress Melissa had thrown at her, her hair was down in curls around her face, Melissa had done her makeup, doing a very smoky eye, which, according to Melissa, was the focal point. Melissa was wearing a short, tight leather strapless dress, and her hair was straightened falling to her shoulders. They been in line for about half an hour when Melissa started talking to the guy in line behind them, Marcel, the two flirted for the rest of the twenty minuets they were in line and when they got inside she immediately disappeared onto the dance floor with him. Jo walked straight to the bar and found a seat in a corner, she liked to dance but just wasn't up to it. Despite her best efforts the only thing she could think about was Vince and how it felt to wake up next to him, feeling totally safe and happy. She was happily adrift in her day dream about Vince when it was interrupted by a voice.

"What?" Jo asked, knowing she'd missed the first thing he'd asked her.

"Anyone sitting here?" he asked again, indicating the bar stool next to her.

"No, all yours." She said not really paying attention to him until he sat down. He was pretty tall, with dark red hair; he had pretty blue eyes, and was wearing an all black suit.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked boldly, laying a hand on her lower back to get her attention. Jo smiled at him and gently pushed his hand away from her back, holding up her wrist, demonstrating that she had no wrist band and was underage.

"Sorry." She said without really meaning it.

"That's ok, I'm the owner of the club, so I think I can make an exception for you. Hey." He said snapping his fingers at the bar tender, who immediately came over.

"Yes sir Mr. Verone, what can I get for you?"

"Two shots of tequila from my stores."

"Yes sir." He said hurrying away.

"What if I don't like tequila." she asked.

"Everyone likes high quality tequila baby." He said leaning over her, and speaking inches from her face.

"Here you are sir." The bartender said returning with the shots and handing one to Jo before scurrying away to tend to the other customers.

"Bottom's up." He said throwing his shot back, and staring at Jo quizzically as she hadn't done the shot. "What's wrong?"

"I don't take drinks from drug dealers, Mr. Verone." She said coolly walking away. He smiled, threw back her shot and walked towards two men who'd been standing nearby throughout the exchange.

"It's her?" Verone asked.

"Yes sir."

"Good, Enrique go pull the car around out back, Roberto, you know what to do." Verone slowly circled the dance floor, spotting Jo again at the bar, this time surrounded by people. "Smart girl" he thought coming up behind her again and resting his hand on the small of her back.

"Come with me." He whispered into her ear so no one else could hear him.

"Back the fuck off." She growled into his face. Verone gripped her arm, stood her up and spun her to face the dance floor. Before she could do anything in response he whispered to her again.

"See your friend out there. Now look at the large man behind her. You don't do what I say she's gonna be in a lot of pain. Understand?" She glared at him fiercely, but nodded anyway. He smirked and led her across the dance floor, his arm low around her waist. He walked her straight across the dance floor, and out the back exit, where she saw a car waiting.

"Oh fuck no." she said trying to pull away from him, getting in the car with Carter Verone, a known drug dealer and all around bad guy was NOT a good idea. He chuckled as she struggled with him, at least until she landed a hard punch to his jaw. In response he pushed her towards the car, causing her to trip and fall to the ground right next to the car. He strode forward pulled her to her feet and forced her into the car.

Back in the club Roberto was hovering around Melissa, waiting for the call from Carter. He only had to wait for a few more minuets when his phone rang, he answered on the first ring and heard Carter's voice; "We're clear" was all he said before hanging up. Roberto pocketed his cell phone and approached Melissa; her dance partner had gone to get drinks. He tapped her on the shoulder and she turned expecting it to be the guy she'd been dancing with all night, instead she saw a large Hispanic man.

"You came in with a brunette in a red dress right?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she said unsure of what was going on.

"She won't be coming home for awhile, you tell anyone and she'll be killed. Understand?" he asked happily. She stared at him in silence for a few seconds, but when he tightened his grip on her arm she nodded yes. "Good, have a nice night." He said disappearing into the crowd.

_Back in Carter's Car_

"So you've heard of me?" Verone asked Jo putting an arm around her shoulders, and pulling her against him. She tried to pull away but he only tightened his grip on her. "Not gonna answer my question?" he whispered into her ear.

"I'm from South Florida, everyone knows about Carter Verone. Now let me go."

"I'm flattered."

"Well you shouldn't be, none of it was good, now what the hell do you want with me?" She asked impatiently, again trying to pull away from him.

"Well," he said switching his position so one of his hands was on her bare leg. "I got a call a couple of weeks ago from a contact of mine on the west coast, seems the Chinese triads were looking for a girl, fits your description, name of Jo. Said she'd be coming to my area, and they'd pay big for her. So…basically we've been following you since you got here. Don't look so shocked" he said responding to the look on her face, "how else do you think you're roommate got invited to the opening of my club." He asked with a smirk.

"So what happens now?"

"Now, we go back to my place until I get my money and they come get you. And, you behave until then, or its gonna be a long couple of days for you. Understand?" he asked leaning over and kissing her neck. She pulled away as far as she could, but his arms around her held her tightly to him.

"Do you understand?" he asked again, tightening his grip to the point that it was hurting her.

"You're hurting me. Let Go!" she snarled at him, he just laughed and again asked if she understood, still kissing her neck. She pushed him hard and spit in his face. He pulled back and stared at her, his blue eyes hardening noticeably as he wiped her saliva from his face.

"That was a mistake." He snarled at her as the car pulled up to a large mansion, and into a small garage. As soon as the garage door was shut Carter got out of the car, pulling Jo roughly with him. As soon as they were both out of the car he slammed her into the closed door, back handing her across the face, drawing blood in the corner of her mouth. Before she could even react, he'd hit her again, this time hard enough to knock her to the floor, she instinctively curled into a ball where she remained as he kicked her repeatedly with all his strength. After a few minuets Carter calmed down enough to once again pull her to her feet and hold her strong against the car.

"Don't do that again." He threatened, increasing his grip on her arms hard enough to leave bruises. She nodded but stared him straight in the eye; he laughed at her futile act of defiance, but began to pull her stumbling up the stairs. He dragged her to the third floor into a room with a large bed, walk in closet and huge bathroom…but no windows. Rather then push her inside Carter walked in with her, and he felt her stiffen in his grip.

"Don't worry; you're only worth any money to me if you're untouched…so to speak. So you're perfectly safe…unless you piss me off any more, in which case the money isn't worth it to me anymore, and we'll have more of that fun we had in the garage. See you in the morning." He said forcing a kiss on her bruised jaw, until she yelped in pain. He smirked at her and left the room, locking it behind him.

As soon as he'd gone Jo explored the room. She walked into the closet and found it full of women's clothing, very few of them tasteful in Jo's opinion, but they were there. She walked into the bathroom and found it stocked full of different shampoos, soaps, and lotions, but no razors, which was what she was looking for. There was also no lock on the bathroom door, in fact it looked as if it had recently been removed. She grabbed one of the towels on the counter and took the fastest shower in history, not wanting to give Carter or one of his cronies an opportunity to walk in on her. She got out and walked over to the closet, hoping beyond hope to find something to sleep in that wasn't a leather skirt or bikini top, although it seemed unlikely that such a garment would exist within this closet. Just when she was about to give up hope, she spotted a mans button down shirt, it was lavender and made of silk, Jo pulled it on and it fell down to her mid thigh, which was the best she was gonna get. She slipped into the bed, convinced she wouldn't sleep, but knowing she needed to keep her strength up if she were to survive whatever Carter Verone and Lance Tran had in store for her.


	13. Chapter 13

Melissa wandered around the club looking for Jo until it closed and she was kicked out. She jumped in her care and sped home, hoping beyond hope that somehow Jo had made it back to the apartment. She pulled into her parking place and raced up the stairs to their second story apartment, she jammed the key in the lock, and threw open the door.

"Jo?" she yelled as she ran inside. "Jo are you here?" she yelled again desperation evident in her voice. She ran threw the apartment checking every room, but coming up empty, she made it back to the living room and sank to her knees sobbing. It was her fault, she thought, she shouldn't have left her alone at the club, they should have stayed together. Melissa stayed slumped on the floor for awhile trying to figure out something to do. She couldn't call the police, that was for sure, if she did Jo would be hurt or worse, killed, but she couldn't sit around and do nothing and she knew she needed help. After a few agonizing minuets of fevered thought, a light bulb went off in Melissa mind, she should call Leon. As this realization dawned on her, a new sense of calm and purpose settled over her, Leon would be able to help her find Jo. Just as soon as she formed her plan she realized she didn't know how to contact him, Jo always called him from her cell and Melissa didn't know his number. Melissa went into Jo's room and began tearing it apart looking frantically for a phone book, or anything with a phone number on it. She didn't care if she had to tear the entire apartment apart, she would fine a way to contact Leon, and he would find a way to help Jo.

_4 hours later back in LA…_

Vince had been drinking a lot since Jo left. It wasn't all that unusual for him to drink a lot on the weekends and pass out on the couch, but since the girls had left he, and all the rest of the guys for that matter, had been drinking heavily, in fact this was the fourth night in a row Vince hadn't made it to his room and instead had passed out on the couch. It was 7 am, and Vince was sleeping off the 6 Coronas and 6 shots of tequila…or maybe it was 7, he couldn't remember…he had the night before. Or at least that was what he was attempting to do until Leon's cell phone, which he'd left on the coffee table, started ringing. Vince awoke and rolled over looking for the source of annoyance which had brought him back to the land of the living so early, spotting Leon's phone he rolled over and tried to ignore it. It rang 9 or 10 times before finally going quiet for a minuet, when it began ringing again, he let it go 6 times before he got fed up and answered it,

"What?!" he growled.

"Umm…Leon?" a female voice asked cautiously.

"It's 7 in the fucking morning, call back after noon." Vince answered angrily, moving to hang up.

"NO, NO Wait, this is important, please." She implored.

"Fine what's so damn important it couldn't wait to a decent time?" Vince asked angrily.

"Are you Leon?" she asked again quietly.

"NO I'M NOT FUCKING LEON, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?" Vince yelled again.

"I'm Melissa, Jo's roommate, it's about her I need to talk to Leon now, it's an emergency."

"Is she ok?" Vince asked, his voice softening instantly.

"I really need to talk to Leon." She stated plainly.

"Aight. Hang on." Vince said getting off the couch and heading into the basement and into Leon's room. He shook him violently, waking him.

"What the hell do you want?" he groaned opening his eyes.

"Some chicks on your phone, says its an emergency about Jo." Leon's head shot up immediately.

"She ok?" he asked Vince.

"Don't know, here, talk to her." Vince said handing Leon the phone.

"Hello?"

"Is this Leon?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"I'm Melissa Jo's roommate."

"Right. What's going on? Is Jo ok?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know, where is she?"

"I don't know."

"What happened?"

"We went to a club and got separated about an hour after we got in, and then some guy comes up to me and asks if I came with Jo, and I said yeah, then he says she won't be coming home for awhile and if I tell anyone they'll kill her."

"When was this?"

"Last night, I've been looking for your number all night. I didn't know who else to call I didn't want to call the police."

"NO, NO you did good. I'm gonna fly out there now, if you figure anything else out call me back at this number, ok?"

"Ok, hurry please, I'm so worried about her, this is all my fault."

"Its not your fault and I'll be there soon." Leon said hanging up.

"What's up?" Vince asked.

"I think someone kidnapped Jo."

"What!? What happened?"

"I don't know they got separated at a club and some guy came up and told the roommate Jo's not coming home, don't tell anyone or we'll kill her. Shit, I gotta get a flight."

"I'm coming with you."

"Vince you don't…"

"Shut up Leon. I care about Jo, just as much as you do, and you're gonna need the back up. I'm coming."

"Aight bro." Leon said with a sigh.

"I'm a go tell Dom what's up, get us a flight." Vince directed heading upstairs to Dom's room. Leon went off to Jesse to get him and Vince a flight. After waking him up and explaining the situation, Jesse set right to work on their tickets.

"Help me out bro, why's Vince hell bent on coming with me?" Leon asked while Jesse searched online.

"Cause he loves her." Jesse stated simply.

"What makes you say that…he barely knows her."

"Bro, you seen the way he looks at her…he's seriously falling for her."

"He's only known her for like, what, two weeks."

"It don't matter bro. You know the whole love at first sight thing…ain't that how it went for you and Amanda?"

"Yeah…I guess." Leon said trailing off.

"Here, you go, best I could do was a one o'clock flight."

"Thanks bro, I'ma go throw some shit together."

Vince made it upstairs and walked into Dom's room. Had Letty been there Vince defiantly would've knocked, he learned his lesson about that years earlier, walking in on Dom in a…compromising…situation with Letty. He walked in and didn't actually have to wake up Dom, he was already up and staring blankly at the wall.

"What's up V?"

"Me and Leon are flying to Florida."

"Why?"

"Jo's roommate called, she's missing, some punk told her if she told anyone they'd kill Jo."

"Fuckin Tran." Dom growled. "What're you gonna do?"

"Don't know…if anything happens to her I'll…" Vince began, but breaking off.

"What V?"

"Dom…how long was it 'till you knew you loved Letty?" he asked shyly.

"First time I saw her." Dom answered instantly.

"I think I love her Dom…I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to her."

"V, it'll be fine. Just go take of your girl. I'm a call Letty and Mia and let them know what's up, see you downstairs."

Leon and Vince jumped on the flight Jesse got for them at one. Leon called Melissa, Jo's roommate Vince found out, and told them they be coming into Miami International at around 6 and she would be there to pick them up. 5 hours had never taken so long as far as Vince and Leon were concerned. When the plane finally touched down in Miami Vince and Leon were the first ones off the plane. They walked through the terminal until they were approached by a petite red head who looked exhausted.

"Leon?" she asked coming up to Vince.

"Nah, but close. LE!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I'm Vince." He said holding out his hand. She shook it quickly, and turned toward Leon as he walked over.

"You're Melissa?"

"Yeah. Nice to meet you. Come on, my cars this way." She said leading them from the terminal. Melissa was all set to drive them back to her place, but they insisted on going to the club where she last saw Jo.

"Is it ok if I go home…I'm a little scared to go back in there." She admitted sheepishly.

"That's probably a good idea. We'll take a cab back. Thanks Melissa." Leon said exiting the car with Vince and heading into the club. It was still pretty early and the club didn't open for another hour and a half. The door to the club was wide open as one of the workers was sweeping out the entrance, Vince and Leon walked past him despite his objections and straight towards the bar, where they were stopped by the bouncer.

"Club's not open. Get out." He said.

"Fuck you." Vince growled.

"Who the fuck you think you're talking to." He yelled shoving Vince towards the door. Before Vince or Leon could respond, a well dressed red headed man walked in.

"What's the problem here Mike?" he asked the bouncer.

"No problem Mr. Verone, I'm just kicking these two out."

"Look I'm just looking for my sister, she was last seen here."

"Really." He said walking forward, "its ok Mike…you got a picture." He asked Leon.

"Who the fuck are you?" Vince growled.

"Carter Verone, I own this club…what night was she here." He asked taking the picture from Leon.

"Last night, got here around 12." Leon responded. Carter stared at the picture for a long moment before handing it back to Leon.

"Sorry, I don't recognize her. It was opening night last night, lot of people came through the doors, you know?"

"Can I look at the security tapes, see if I spot her?"

"The cameras don't work yet…we've only been open a day, they weren't ready so we opened without them...sorry." Verone said sounding anything but apologetic. Vince glared at him as they turned to leave, they took a few steps towards the door when,

"Shame." Carter said stopping Vince and Leon.

"What's a shame?" Vince growled.

"Losing a good looking girl like her, whoever's got her is having a lot of fun right now I bet." Vince and Leon lunged at him at the same instant, but where stopped short by the bouncer Mike, and a Spanish man who'd been following Carter around since he'd entered the club.

"Get rid of 'em" Carter shouted over his shoulder as he walked out the back door of the club. Mike and the other man shoved them out the front of the club, before shutting and locking the door.

"That fucker knows something." Leon growled to Vince once they were outside the club.

"Yeah he does. Let's go back o the apartment and figure something out." Vince said. Leon nodded and they hailed a cab, taking them the couple of miles to the apartment Jo had shared with Melissa. They walked up to the second floor and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Melissa asked nervously through the door.

"Vince and Leon." Vince bit out. She unlocked and opened the door to her apartment.

"Figure out anything?" she asked hopefully.

"No, not really." Leon said pulling out his cell phone and dialing Jesse.

"Hey Jesse…no haven't figured anything out yet, look bro I need you to run a profile on someone for me, the names Carter Verone…yeah, see if you could figure out where he lives…"

"I know where he lives." Melissa stated, both Vince and Leon glanced at her. Leon hung up with Jesse,

"Where's he live?"

"Along the intercostal, gated community, Stallone's old mansion."

"Really…"

_Back at the club_

Carter stormed out the back of the club, straight to his black SUV. Roberto came a second later, having just thrown Vince and Leon out of the club.

"Where we going Mr. Verone?"

"Home, I told that stupid bitch not to tell anyone…now Jo's gotta learn the consequences of having stupid friends." They pulled through the gates to the mansion, Carter jumped outta the car as soon as it stopped and stormed inside, Roberto had to jog to keep up. He walked up the stairs and straight to Jo's room on the third floor, Enrique was sitting on a chair in front of the door.

"Open it." Carter demanded. Enrique unlocked it and he and Roberto followed Carter inside the girl was sitting on the bed, her back to the door. She turned when she heard the door open, and sprang off the bed seeing the three of them walk in.

"You really have to learn to pick smarter friends." Carter said walking towards her, stopping just in front of her. "And you should really not wear a thousand dollar silk shirt to bed" he said fingering the sleeve, "especially when the shirts mine." He yelled grabbing her arm and throwing her unto the bed, then climbing on top of her.

"Get the fuck off me." She yelled struggling to throw him off balance. The other two men came forward; one was helping to hold her down, while the other one removed a tape recorder from his pocket.

"Shut up!" Carter yelled back handing her across the face. "Now listen…your little roommate can't follow directions, she went ahead and called your brother, now he's snooping around my fucking club, and I can't have that…so, I need to teach your roommate and your brother a lesson. So you're gonna be a good girl for me and yell nice and loud for the recorder, understand?" he asked inches from her face, smiling as she shook under him. "Good" he said not waiting for an answer. Carter loosened his hold on her, while Enrique tightened his, and Roberto turned on the recorder. As soon as the pressure on her hips, where Carter had been straddling her, let up, Jo bucked trying to throw him off. He was displaced momentarily but not enough for her to get loose. He punched her hard across the jaw, as she released an involuntary yelp, much to Carter delight. He back-handed her across the face, one of his rings drawing blood from her cheek, she bit down hard, trying to keep quiet, not wanting to give Carter the satisfaction. He hit across the face three more times and still couldn't get her to yell out the way he wanted. He smirked to himself, and switched positions; leaning back on his heels he took two quick punches to her ribs and abdomen, she gasped and squirmed against Enrique's grip. Once Carter was satisfied that she couldn't move he slipped his hand up under the shirt she was wearing resting his hand on her bare stomach.

"Get the fuck off me." She yelled, he pushed his hands a little higher, and leaned over her whispering in her ear, "how far do you think I'll push this?" he asked emphasizing his point by inching his hands further up, brushing the underside of her bra.

"Please get off, you're hurting me please." She pleaded tears falling down her cheeks. He leaned in again kissing her neck, "please…" she begged. Carter leaned back and smiled, as Roberto switched off the recorder.

"Leave it on their answering machine." Carter directed to Roberto, climbing off of Jo and dismissing Roberto and Enrique from the room. As soon as he was off her Jo, sat up and moved as far away from him as possible standing up and walking to the far wall, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself.

"I don't know what the hell you were so worried about…I told you your only good to me untouched." He said getting up and walking to where she was standing, "hence my dilemma." He continued, "See now the Asian guy who paying for you is gonna be here in a couple of days, seems his Uncle's the one paying for you…something about revenge for a dead son, but that's beside the point. I told him I'd have you ready and waiting for him when he got here, but here's my dilemma. He may be paying big money for you, but beautiful girl like you has a lot to offer a man." He finished grinning at her, as she looked defiantly up at him.

"You even think about touching me like that again I'll kill you." She snarled.

"Sweetie," he laughed. "I don't think you understand the situation. He's taking you with him in a few days, way it sounds he's got a little thing for you. So you've got two options, disobey me and I'll hand you over to the whole lot of them. Or you could give me a reason to keep you around, what's it gonna be?"

"Option three."

"Which is…?"

"You go fuck yourself and let me the hell outta here." She growled acidly, earning herself another back hand to the face.

"That was a fucking warning, sweetie, keep this shit up and you'll get option 4."

"Which is?"

"A slow fucking death. You have until they get here to make your decision, and I'm gonna expect you to live up to it." He said running his hand down her side and grinning, before walking out of the room and closing the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Melissa walked back into her apartment, she'd gone to the store to buy food for the boys, she figured they'd be hungry when they got back from the club, and she couldn't just sit around and do nothing, she'd go crazy if she did. She walked in and put the groceries down on the kitchen counter, glancing at the answering machine she saw a 1 blinking. She pushed the replay button and waited to hear who left the message.

"Oh my god!" she gasped as she heard the sounds of someone being beaten. In the back of her mind she knew it was Jo, but the rest of her refused to believe it, until she heard her voice, begging whoever was beating her to stop. Just as she thought she couldn't take listening to it anymore the tape ended. She stood staring at the answering machine for a minuet, she wanted nothing more then to delete the message, but thought better of it, knowing she'd have to show it to Vince and Leon. With shaking hands she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Leon's number.

"Hello?"

"Leon you need to come over to the apartment, can you get a cab?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Someone left a message on the machine."

"Something about Jo?"

"I think so, just hurry."

"Aight, we'll be right there." Leon said hanging up, as Vince hailed a cab.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but she sounds shook." Vince and Leon climbed into the cab and it took them to Melissa and Jo's apartment. They climbed to the third floor and Leon knocked.

"Who is it?" Melissa's voice sounded through the door.

"Vince and Leon." Vince responded. She quickly let them in, but both men immediately noticed her eyes were red and puffy, and her face was tear streaked.

"What's a matter?" Leon asked worriedly.

"It's my fault." She said quietly.

"What's your fault?" Leon asked.

"They told me they'd hurt her if I told anyone, it's my fault."

"Melissa, I don't understand what you're talking about…you gotta explain it to me."

"Go listen to the message on the machine." Vince and Leon walked quickly into the kitchen and pushed the replay button the machine. The tape started and both men listened to the noises of someone being beaten, they could hear the gasps and yelps of pain following the loud thud of a blow finding its mark. Suddenly, Jo's voice appeared, begging someone to stop hurting her. All the color drained from Leon's face as he listened, slumping against the wall, his head in his hands. Vince's face had turned a deep red as he tried to suppress his rage; he was clenching his hands so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Finally, the tape ended, both men stayed in silence, lost in their individual thoughts.

"We're in over our head bro." Leon stated, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, what do we do?"

"I think we should call Brian, see if he knows anyone we can trust at the police." Leon said, Vince nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Leon pulled out his cell phone with shaking hands.

"Hello?"

"Brian, its Leon."

"Hey bro, did you find her?"

"No, Brian we're in way over our head here. You know anyone on Miami PD, or FBI or something."

"Uhh…yeah, friend from Police Academy, I'll call you back in a few…hang on Dom wants to talk to you, I'll find his number."

"Thanks bro. Hey Dom."

"How's it going?"

"Dom…they hurt her man."

"Who?"

"Don't know…they left a tape on her answering machine, sounded like they we're beating the crap outta her."

"Le…it's gonna be alright man. Tran's behind this and he's still in LA, Hector saw him yesterday; as long as he's here she'll be fine."

"Hope you're right bro."

"I am. Don't worry. Aight, Brian's got the number. Be careful, keep an eye on V."

"Sure Dom."

"Leon? Hey, his name's Luke. I told him you're calling him, and he said he'll keep it quiet."

"Thanks Brian." He said hanging up, just as Vince reentered the kitchen.

"What'd the buster say?"

"He's got a friend on Miami PD, I'm gonna call him, Brian said he'll keep his mouth shut."

"He'd better." Vince grumbled

* * *

Back at Verone's Jo was considering her options. She knew she still had a day or two before Lance and his cronies got to Miami, or at least according to Carter, so the police, or Leon still had a couple of days to get to her. But she realized that if she wasn't rescued by the time Lance and his boys showed up, she would have to stay with Carter so she would be easier to find. But she knew this too was a long shot. Being from South Florida she knew all about Verone, the police had been investigating him for years and hadn't gotten a damn thing out of it. He was too smart and too rich to be caught easily. Basically, Jo was on her own and she knew it. She was wondering around the room looking for some sort of weapon, all she had to do was get outside and hope that his house was under surveillance. If someone saw her they might just come get her before it was too late. She wondered through the closet, finding nothing but tasteless clothing, the bedroom held nothing more promising but a small lamp. Finally she made her way through to the bathroom. She saw it as soon as she stepped through the door, a towel rack. It had long metal pole bolted directly to the wall. She grabbed and pulled on it a few times, it gave a creak and moved a little. Thank god they bolted it to the dry wall and not a stud, Jo thought. After a few more minuets of tugging it came loose with a loud bang. She stood quietly, clutching the bar in her hands, waiting to see if she'd been heard. After a few minuets no one had come through the door, and Jo breathed a sigh of relief. She walked back into the bedroom and lay down to sleep, the bar at her side. She'd already had dinner that night, and the only time anyone had come into the room was when they were bringing her food, except when Carter came in unannounced.

* * *

It was 1 am and Vince and Leon were on their way to meet Luke, Brian's friend, on South Beach. Melissa had come as well, she was afraid to be left alone, and was staying very close to both Vince and Leon especially since hearing the answering machine. They arrived at the restaurant and waited around by the bar, all three having a drink to calm their nerves. They'd been there for about 10 minuets when a tall man, well built man with jet black hair approached them.

"Leon?"

"Yeah, you Luke."

"Yup, let's grab a table." Luke said walking towards the back of the crowded restaurant before stopping at a booth and sliding in, Leon next to him. Melissa slid in directly across from Luke as Vince slid in next to her.

"So…you think Verone has your sister?"

"Yeah, WE do." Vince answered stressing his involvement.

"Why, Verone's not exactly the type of guy to arbitrarily kidnap someone. He doesn't need the money, and it'd be stupid putting himself under needless scrutiny."

"Look we don't fucking know why. But I guarantee that son of a bitch has her." Vince snarled.

"We went to his club, cause that's where she was when she went missing. We asked if he'd seen her, he told us no, but when we were leaving he made some stupid comment about her being pretty and someone was probably taking advantage of that." Leon explained before Vince could hit Luke for asking stupid questions.

"Alright, he wouldn't pull shit like that for no reason. He likes fucking with people's head…its kinda his thing. So let's say he does have her, you have to understand he's not the kinda guy who'll let you come to the door and have a look. His mansion's under constant FBI surveillance, if he'd brought her in, they'd know about it, so the best I can do for you right now is have you wait until my friend at the FBI can let me know if his movements the last couple of days."

"We can't just fucking wait. He's already hurt her, and nothing's gonna stop him from doing it again."

"How do you he hurt her?" Luke asked, looking around the table. Melissa immediately stood and basically crawled over Vince so she wouldn't have to go through it again. Leon followed; he couldn't sit there and explain to some guy he barely knew that he'd heard his sister begging someone to stop hurting her, and that he couldn't do anything about it.

"That bad?" Luke asked Vince, who he noticed had turned a deep shade of red.

"They left a message on her home machine. You could hear someone getting the crap beat outta them, then she comes on and she's…" Vince said breaking off and looking down.

"She's what?" Luke asked, afraid of the answer. Vince took a deep shuddering breath and said,

"She's begging whoever's hitting her to stop…she's fucking begging him man. She shouldn't have to go through that again, shit…she shouldn't have had to go through it the first time."

"Look man, if there was anything I could do, I would…but until they have probable cause to search his house…there's nothing I can do. I'll let the FBI know so they can keep an eye out…but otherwise…I'm sorry."

"What the fuck do you mean sorry? I'm telling you this son-of-a-bitch has her, and he hurt her, and YOU need to go get her, or I will." Vince snarled, his eyes flashing.

"You can't go get her, he'll kill you."

"Then you go fucking do something."

"Look, give me 24 hours…just 24 hours, I'll talk to the FBI and if there's any evidence that she's there, we'll go in. Just 24 hours."

"Fine, one day…that's it!" Vince said getting up and leaving the café, with Melissa and Leon.

* * *

It was 7am, and Jo, though pretending to be asleep was wide awake, her right hand under the covers holding the metal pole in a death grip in her hand. She knew this was her only chance to get away, once Lance was here, she knew she'd be in trouble. She waited another hour before she heard the tell tale click of a lock being undone. She unconsciously clenched the bar in her hand harder. When the door opened she opened her eyes to see which of the men it was,

"Wake up." Enrique said. When she didn't stir he walked closer to the bed and shook her. As soon as Jo felt his hands on her shoulders, she reacted, removing her hand from under the covers and slamming the bar against his temple. He yelled out in pain gripping the side of his head as Jo sprang from the bed and ran down the stairs. She'd made it to the second floor when Roberto stepped out of one of the rooms. They stood still staring at each other for a moment, until Jo started running again. Roberto sprang into action chasing her down the stairs; Jo could feel him coming up behind her as she jumped the last four stairs leading to the first floor. As soon as she cleared the landing she turned left towards some French doors leading out to a pool. She threw open the door and launched herself outside running as fast as could. She'd made it about 5 steps outside before strong arms wrapped around her waist and began yanking her violently back into the house. Roberto yanked her quickly into the house, slamming the door before dragging her back up the stairs to her room.

"Carter's gonna make you pay for that bitch." Roberto growled throwing her roughly into her room and slamming the door. Jo took a deep breath and was about to sit down on the bed when her door was thrown open again and Roberto stepped in, two pairs of handcuffs in his hands. He strode quickly to her and grabbed her arms. He slapped the cuffs on her wrists and tightened them hard enough to draw blood, before repeating the action on her ankles, and again walking out of the room. She hadn't seen Enrique since she'd hit him, but she knew her only hope at the moment was that Carter's house was under surveillance…as she expected it was. If that was the case she had a shot that someone saw her those few seconds she was outside, because otherwise she was screwed.

_

* * *

Back at Melissa's_

It was 7:45 am, and neither Vince or Leon had gotten any sleep since returning from their meeting with Luke. They had sat together in silence on Melissa's couch waiting. That was the only thing they could do, wait, and it was driving them both crazy.

"You think she's ok man?" Leon broke the silence asking Vince.

"Yeah…I think she's ok…she's tough…like Letty, she can take care of herself."

"Hope you're right bro." Leon said with a sigh. They regressed back to the silence they'd been in for the last few hours, until Leon's cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Leon, it's Luke. Verone's got her, she made a break for it this morning and made it all the way outside, the FBI saw her…there gonna move in as soon as they can get a team together."

"How long's that gonna be?"

"A couple hours, you and Vince should come over to the precinct; I'll take you to the command post until the raid."

"Alright we'll be right there…thanks." Leon said hanging up.

"What's up?" Vince asked.

"She got outside today somehow, the FBI's gonna move in to get her in a couple of hours. Luke said to meet him at the station." Vince let out a slight sigh as he got up to follow Leon.

* * *

"How the fuck could you let that happen?" Verone yelled at Roberto when he got home.

"She had a weapon sir…"

"I don't want to hear it." He yelled cutting him off. "She ain't even worth the fucking money anymore. Let's go take care of her." Verone said starting up the stairs to her room, Roberto behind him. He unlocked the door and saw her handcuffed form lying on her side on the bed, facing away from the door. When she heard the door open she tried to turn around but couldn't, Verone walked to the other side of the bed as Roberto made his way into the bathroom. Jo was staring at Verone as he walked over to her, but glanced over to the bathroom when she heard water running in the bathtub. Before she knew it Verone was kneeling in front of her, staring into her eyes.

"Do you remember what I told when I brought you here." He asked, she shook her head no, not wanting to push him as his anger was coming off him in waves.

"I told you that if you didn't behave for me you'd be in for a long couple of days. Did you think I didn't mean it?" She didn't answer, glancing at Roberto who had just made his way back into the room, nodding to Verone.

"You're from South Florida, right?" She nodded

"So that must mean you know how to swim, right?" she didn't answer, not sure where he was going with this.

"This isn't a rhetorical question, can you swim."

"Yes, I can swim."

"How long can you hold your breath?"

"I don't know…I've never timed it, why?" She asked, Verone smiled and walked out of the room, leaving her with Roberto, he walked towards her unlocking the cuffs from her ankles.

"Stand up" he ordered, she did and he began to lead her to the bathroom to where the tub was filled with water. She immediately regretted following him so easily and began to fight him when she realized what they had planned for her.

"Don't fight me bitch." Roberto yelled, smacking her across the face enough to daze her as he dragged her towards the tub and forced her head in up to her shoulders into the ice cold water. She was struggling hard, he was trying to drown her and she knew in water this cold she wouldn't be able to hold her breath for very long. She thrashed around with all her strength trying desperately to get air into her body. She'd been under for 3 minuets and was starting to black out, her struggles getting weaker and weaker. As she reached the 4 minute mark, there was no more struggling, she'd gone completely limp. Roberto held her under for another minute to be sure when an explosion sounded from downstairs.

"Shit." He yelled getting up and running from the room, leaving Jo half submerged in the tub. He ran out of the room and down the stairs just as 30 or so SWAT officers were running up the stairs.

"Freeze!" one of the officers yelled, as Roberto went for the gun at the small of his back, he knew he was screwed and figured he might as well take a couple of them with him. As soon as his hand reached behind his back dozen gun shots rang out, hitting him repeatedly in the chest and toppling him to the floor. A few officers carefully approached him, clearing him of his weapon, and checking to see if he was actually dead, before moving on up the stairs.

They successfully cleared two rooms before the officers made it to Jo, four men burst into the room, and two began the sweep to the right, towards the closest, while the other two swept left, towards the bathroom.

"Clear." One of the officers sweeping right called out, just as the other two pushed in the bathroom door and saw Jo half-submerged in the icy bath water.

"Shit. Get the paramedics in here. NOW" One of them yelled running forward and pulling her from the water and onto the floor. Her face and lips were blue as he felt for a pulse, finding none; he immediately jumped into CPR, giving 15 chest compressions, while his partner gave the two breaths. They'd cycled thru it twice and were still getting no pulse.

"Come on honey, you're too young to die like this." The officer said between breaths. They administered another 4 rounds of CPR, and still could find no pulse.

"This isn't looking good." One of the officers said to himself.


	15. Chapter 15

Finally, after another 4 rounds of CPR, "I've got a pulse." The SWAT officer said, just as the paramedics arrived. They began running through her vitals, and loading her onto a gurney. Jo was soaking wet, and shivering, but still unconscious.

"What happened?"

"Fucker tried to drown her…almost did too."

"Alright, let's get her to the rig." The paramedics wheeled her outside and through the police line, Vince and Leon saw her being wheeled out and ran to the gurney.

"Jesus…" Leon breathed seeing her lying wet and pale on the gurney.

"You the brother?"

"Yeah, she ok?"

"For now…we need to get her to the hospital. Come on, you can ride along." The paramedic said to Leon, who followed him up and into the rig, leaving Vince behind as it pulled away.

"Need a lift to the hospital?" Luke asked Vince, he nodded and followed him quickly to the car.

"You ok?"

"I don't know, is she?"

"She's alive, that's all you can ask for right now."

"I love her, I can't lose her." Vince said quietly to himself, realizing it out loud for the first time.

"What?"

"I love her." He said looking out the window, silently praying she'd be alive when he got to the hospital. The 20 minute drive to the hospital seemed to take hours, as Vince waited impatiently, not knowing if Jo was even still alive. They finally pulled to the front of the hospital, Vince jumped from the car before Luke had even stopped it, and ran inside seeing Leon sitting in the waiting room.

"Where is she? She ok?"

"I don't know bro, she's alive but she's still out, and they said something about her having water in her lungs cause one of Verone's fuckers tried to drown her."

"Shit." Vince said slumping into a chair beside Leon, and hanging his head in his hands. They sat silently in the waiting room for over an hour before the doctor came out and walked up to Leon.

"Are you the family of Joceline Cohen?" He asked Leon and Vince both jumping to their feet.

"Yeah, is she ok?"

"She's still unconscious, but she should be coming around very soon, and she's going be fine. You can come back and see her now…one at a time please." He added as Vince made to follow Leon.

"Thanks Doc."

"Joceline, huh?" Vince asked Leon.

"Yeah, but if you call her that she'll kill you, she hates that name, I'm gonna go see her, you call the team?"

"Yeah…sure." Vince said with a sigh as Leon made his way down to her room. Vince pulled out his cell and dialed Dom.

"V, what's up?"

"We got Jo." He said, hearing Dom let out a breath.

"She ok?"

"Leon's in with her now, but the Doctor says she's gonna be fine."

"Thank god."

"Yeah, everyone else ok?"

"Yeah, Letty's pissed as hell at me for not letting her stay in LA, but as soon as we fucking nail Tran they're coming back."

"Aight bro I gotta go, I'll call back after I see her."

"Sure, tell her hi from all of us."

"Right, bye." Vince said hanging up and returning to his seat in the waiting room waiting for Leon to come out with any news. He'd been sitting alone in the waiting room for about an hour when Luke came up to him.

"How is she?"

"Doc says she's gonna be fine, Leon's in with her now, I'm gonna go in when he gets back."

"Umm…yeah about that Vince…"

"What?"

"You're gonna have to wait a little longer to see her?"

"Why's that?" he growled, eyes flashing.

"Look, now that she's awake we need to get in their and interview her so we know what the hell we're dealing with."

"How long's that gonna take?"

"Hour or two at the most."

"Oh fuck no. I'm not waiting another hour to see her."

"Sorry Vince, that's how its gotta be. If it were up to me you could go in first, but it's not up to me, so…sorry. Why don't you go grab a shower and some food, by the time you get back we'll be done."

"This is bullshit; you can't stop me from seeing her whenever the hell I want."

"Vince, we're going in next, you'll be arrested if you cause any trouble."

"For what? Seeing my girl? Bull shit!"

"Obstruction of Justice Vince. I'm sorry. It's just another couple of hours." He said walking away, leaving Vince seething in his waiting room chair. Leon came out a few minuets later.

"How she doing man?"

"She's great, it's like nothing happened to her at all." Leon said sadly.

"What's a matter?"

"I know I haven't seen her in a long time but I know when something's bothering her."

"No shit Sherlock she was kidnapped."

"Yeah, well tell her that. She's keeping everything bottled up and that ain't good."

"Give her sometime bro. A lot's happened to her."

"Yeah I guess…she asked me to call her parents."

"Don't you mean your parents?"

"Yeah…them…V, I haven't talked to them since I left 5 years ago."

"Damn, glad I'm not you."

"Thanks for the confidence bro. The cops said they're gonna be in with her for about an hour, so if you wanna take off for a bit, I'll be around."

"Yeah, I guess I'll go back to Melissa's and grab a shower, I'll be back soon. Good luck with the whole calling the parents thing."

"Thanks." Leon said taking a deep breath and using Jo's phone to call his parents house. It rang 5 times without being answered, giving Leon a little hope that they weren't home, but not being that lucky of a person, on the 6th ring, his father picked up, probably the person he wanted to talk to least.

"Hello, Cohen residence."

"Uhh…yeah, hi Dad. It's Leon."

"Leon? Wow…umm…hi…how've you been?"

"I'm fine Dad, listen you know how Jo was in Miami…"

"No, Jo's in LA with you." He responded, a little annoyed,

"Yeah, she was…but there was some trouble and she came back into Miami 2 weeks ago."

"Why would she come to Miami, we're in Tampa, and her schools in Gainesville."

"I don't know Dad, she was staying in Miami with a friend and…well she's fine…but she's in the hospital."

"What the hell do you mean she's in the hospital?"

"Dad, the doctor says she's gonna be fine. She just asked me to call you."

"You're in Miami?"

"I'm at the hospital."

"Which one?"

"Jackson Memorial."

"Fine, we'll be there soon. Don't you dare leave that hospital, I wanna talk to you."

"Fine dad. Bye." He said hanging up and taking a deep breath.

Vince walked back into the hospital an hour later, showered, wearing clean jeans and a tank top, and carrying a pair of boxers and another tank top. Having spent a fair amount of time in the hospital after the fiasco with the trucks, he knew how uncomfortable hospital gowns were and figured she'd want to change. He saw Leon half asleep in the waiting room chair, and shook him awake.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Yeah, nothing a shower and a beer wouldn't cure."

"I hear ya brother. Look, I'm gonna be here for awhile why don't you go grab a shower and that beer."

"Yeah, its still gonna be a couple hours before the parents get here."

"Their coming?"

"Yeah, don't that sound like fun?"

"Whatever man, not my parents…the cops done with Jo yet?"

"Uhh…I don't know. I was kinda asleep."

"Well I'm gonna go check. Go take a shower you look like shit."

"Thanks bro. See ya later." Leon said leaving the hospital as Vince walked towards Jo's room. He glanced inside and saw it was empty, apart from her and she was awake. He knocked, and walked in at the same time.

"Hey babe…how you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine. But what the hell took you so long?" she teased as Vince sat in the chair opposite her bed.

"Sorry, cops wouldn't let me in. I tried, trust me."

"Whatever you say Vince." She said smiling, but it wasn't her normal smile. She looked like she was trying to hard, something wasn't right, and Vince realized exactly what Leon had been talking about.

"Jo, how are you really?"

"I'm fine Vince, really."

"Don't bull shit me. I can tell when you do."

"What do you want from me Vince?" she asked angrily. "Do you want me to scream and yell and cry? Cause that's what everyone else seems to want." She asked tears forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, if it helps."

"Well it won't. I was kidnapped, and beaten and nearly drowned, what the hell do you think is gonna help that?"

"I don't know Jo, but you can't just not talk about it. That sure as hell ain't helping shit."

"How the hell do you know, what helps and what doesn't, you're the main reason I came down here." She yelled angrily, immediately regretting it seeing the guilty look on Vince's face.

"You're right. If it wasn't for me you probably woulda stayed in LA, and I'm sorry but I was doing what I thought was best for you, and given the situation again I'd do the same thing."

"Why do you even care you've only known me for what, a month."

"I care because I love you." He yelled back, taking a deep breath.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"I'm in love with you. Have been since the first time I saw you. I know this ain't the best time to bring it up but…"

"I love you too Vince." She interrupted him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just…I was so scared Vince, and I…" she started, tears finally falling freely down her face. Vince got off his chair and moved to the bed sitting on it and pulling her into his lap. She leaned into his chest, burying her face into his neck and shoulder as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. They sat that way for a few minuets, drawing comfort from one another. After a few minutes of silence Vince broke it.

"Joceline huh?"

"Shut up. I'm gonna kill Leon." She said with a sniffle and a laugh.

"Nah wasn't him, that's what the doctor called you."

"Well then I'm gonna kill him."

"Oh come on…I like it."

"Yeah, you would…what's on the chair?" she asked seeing the bundle of cloths he'd brought with him.

"Oh, some cloths…I've spent some time in a hospital gown and it wasn't fun so I thought you'd wanna change."

"Ok, now I really love you." She said leaning up and kissing his cheek. He got up and grabbed the cloths, handing them to her.

"Hey, you feel like staying with me tonight, I don't really want to be alone."

"I was already planning on staying, whether you wanted me to or not." He said with a smile, as she began pulling the boxers on under her gown.

"Turn around." She ordered, wanting to pull the tank on, he pouted momentarily, but turned around anyway.

"Ok." She said. Vince turned back around, pulling off his tank and jeans, and climbing into bed with her.

"This is the smallest fucking bed I've ever slept in." he complained turning onto his side and pressing his chest to her back.

"Well it wasn't exactly meant for 2 people." She said snuggling back against him as he tightened his grip on her waist, and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent deeply. He made sure to stay awake until he felt her breathing level out into a deep sleep, before allowing himself to nod off, feeling completely content for the first time in weeks.

_6 hours later…_

Vince woke up slowly; the sunlight was streaming in through the breaks in the cheap plastic blinds. Sometime during the night they had changed positions, Vince was flat on his back and Jo was half on top of him, resting her head on his chest. He vaguely wondered how they got in that position, but dismissed the thought as she began to stir.

"Morning babe." Vince said his voice a little ragged from sleep.

"Morning." She said leaning up and kissing him full on the mouth. He held her tight, rolling her off him and on her back; he remained on his side, but continued kissing her. He shifted more, placing his hand on the bare skin of hip, in between where the tank and boxers fell, and deepening the kiss.

"Ahem" a deep voice said from the doorway, interrupting them.

"Go the fuck away Leon." Vince growled, not turning away from Jo.

"Who the hell are you?" an angry voice shouted from the door. Vince and Jo both stopped abruptly, turning to face the new voice. Standing in the doorway with Leon were three other people, an older man and women, probably in their early 50s, and a younger man, who Vince figured to be around his age.

"Mom…Dad…Marcus…hi." Jo said softly. Vince grimaced and climbed out of the bed, as Jo's mother approached the bed with tears in her eyes, obviously she'd been seriously worried. Leon watched Vince climb out of his sister's bed wearing only his boxers. He quickly pulled on his discarded jeans and tank and stood in the doorway next to Leon. He watched her mother pull away, as her father leaned in and hugged her. The younger third man approached the bed bent over it and kissed her cheek, sitting down on the edge and hugging her. Vince's hands clenched at his side, who the fuck did this guy think he was touching his girl. He started moving forward towards the bed when he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned and saw Leon looking at him, shaking his head "no". Vince glared at him, he was ready to beat the hell outta this guy, and Leon was still shaking his head. "Why" Vince mouthed angrily, "brother" Leon mouthed back, Vince cocked his eyebrow at him but immediately relaxed, no threat from this guy.

"Who the hell are you?" Marcus, the younger man asked angrily.

"Marcus…be nice." Jo said.

"I am being nice, I want to know who the hell the man sleeping with you was?" he yelled.

"Don't yell at her." Vince growled.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but she's my sister and I'll yell at her if I want to." Marcus yelled advancing on Vince.

"Not around me you won't." Vince snarled, as Leon stepped between him and Marcus.

"That's enough Marcus, sit down." Jo's mother said. Marcus sat back in the chair but continued to glare at Vince.

"Now, Joceline sweet heart, who's your friend?"

"Mom, this is my boyfriend Vince."

"We'll see about that." Marcus mumbled as Vince glared at him.

"Uhh…well it's…uhh…nice to meet you Vince, I'm Sarah Cohen, and the obnoxious young man over there is my son Marcus, and that's my husband Michael, and it appears you already know Leon." She said. Vince nodded a hello to Jo's parents but didn't acknowledge Marcus.

"Now why don't you boys go grad some lunch, I have some catching up to do with my daughter."

**A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, I had finals and just got really busy, but here's the update. And Jo lived…I know that makes you guys happy, so please read and review ******


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I know, I know I suck. I really did not think it would take me this long to update and for that I sincerely apologize. I had an absolutely horrible case of writer's block that has since worked itself out. Anyway, here is the update and I swear on all that is holy it will never take me this long to update again…I hope ******

"Good idea hon." Michael spoke for the first time, "I'm glad you're ok sweetie, see you later." He said leaning over and kissing Jo.

"Thanks Dad." She said.

"We'll finish talking about HIM later." Marcus said walking to the door with Michael.

"Thanks for calling them Leon." She said as he hugged her goodbye.

"You owe me SO big." He whispered to her before pulling away.

"Would you seriously care if I kill your brother?" Vince asked quietly.

"Yeah, sorry, I would." She said with a smile, "Behave yourself."

"No promises." He said kissing her deeply before walking out of the room with the other boys. As soon as the door was closed, Jo's mother turned to her.

"Why didn't you tell us you we're coming back, we thought you were in LA with Leon this whole time."

"I didn't want to worry you."

"What happened, Leon said there was trouble in LA…was it that Vince character?"

"NO MOM."

"Well you've seen him…you can't blame me for asking."

"There's this group of guys who have a grudge against Leon and his friends…"

"Vince is one of Leon's friends? How do they know each other?"

"Yeah, they all live togeth…I mean they all work together."

"JOCELINE MARIE COHEN! Please tell me you haven't been staying in a house with a bunch of men."

"There are a couple of other girls too" she mumbled.

"Really, I think you'd better explain to me everyone who lives in that house NOW!"

"Leon, Jesse, Vince, Dom, Brian, Mia and Letty." She rattled off quickly.

"So, you've living with Vince, this whole time? Have you been having sex with him this whole time?"

"I live in the same house, but I have my own room. And I'm not having sex with him Mom. I told him I want to wait, and he respects that."

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes mom…really."

"So what do you mean by grudge?"

"I don't know, I was out with Vince, and they jumped us, they beat him up and one of them was…kind of…interested in me…so Leon, and the rest of the boys thought I'd be safer home."

"What do you mean interested in you?"

"I don't know he was…attracted to me I guess, so I came back here."

"What does any of this have to do with you being kidnapped?"

"I don't know…but I know it does." Jo said, before her mother could speak again a medium sized brunette ran in the room.

"Oh my god Jo, are you ok?"

"Roxy, what are you doing here?"

"My baby sister gets kidnapped and you expect me to not come, I would have been here sooner but I was waiting for Leo and he couldn't find anyone to cover for him."

"Leo's here." Her mother asked bitterly.

"No, he couldn't find anyone to cover, he'll be down tonight."

"That's not necessary I'm fine."

"Yeah, well you try telling him that." Roxy said, "You know he loves you…"

"Ok, back to the matter at hand" Mrs. Cohen said, "Vince…"

"Who's Vince?" Roxy asked, interrupting her mother.

"My boyfriend…"

"And the man she was sleeping naked with when we came into the room."

"Really!" Roxy said excited.

"Do not encourage her!" Mrs. Cohen said, "I'm going to let your father know you're here." She said getting up and leaving the room.

"Ok, I wanna know everything." Roxy squealed sitting next to Jo on the bed.

"There's nothing to tell."

"Bullshit, is he cute?"

"Yes, he's very cute."

"…What… that's it? I need details…what's he look like…why doesn't mom like him?"

"Mom doesn't like him because he was in bed with me when they came in, and not naked, he was wearing boxers."

"What does he look like?"

"I don't know, he's tall, like 6-2, he's got shaggy brown hair, and really pretty blue eyes…he's kinda like Leo, he's got a couple of tattoos and…"

"And mom always figured you'd be with some preppy college guy."

"Yeah, and he's one of Leon's friends so…"

"Really…how old is he?"

"25" Jo said with a cringe

"Wow, does Mom know that?"

"No." Jo said as Roxy started to laugh.

"She's gonna love that."

"Yeah I know."

"Well I can't wait to meet him."

The boys left the hospital in silence, Marcus and Vince glaring at each other, Leon and his father staying between the two of them. They walked out of the hospital and down the street to a small Spanish restaurant. They walked in and we're seated immediately.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the waitress asked.

"A Corona." Vince stated.

"Same here." Leon reiterated, getting a glare from both his father and Marcus, who both ordered water.

"So…how long have you been sleeping with my sister?" Marcus asked acidly.

"Just leave it alone Marcus."

"Shut the fuck up Leon, she's my sister."

"Yeah, mine too."

"If you cared all that much you would've stopped her from being with this loser."

"Yeah, hello…sitting right here." Vince said.

"Shut up." Marcus shot at him. Vince was exercising all the little self-control he had to not beat the hell out of Jo's brother.

"That's enough…all of you. We're going to have a nice lunch, go back to the hospital and we'll go from there." Mr. Cohen said, glaring around the table at the boys. "Now, Leon, Vince how do you know each other?"

"We live and work together." Vince said

"Where do you work?"

"At a garage."

"Wait a minute, I thought Jo was staying with you?" Marcus asked Leon

"She was."

"But you live with him."

"A bunch of us from the garage live together."

"So you let your little sister live with a bunch of random mechanics you know?" Marcus asked incredulously.

"There not random mechanics, they're like my family." Leon said, drawing a snicker from Marcus.

"So who have you been living with?" Mr. Cohen asked Leon.

"Vince, Dom, Jesse, Brian, Mia and Letty."

"Jesus is it all in one big room?" Marcus sneered.

"It's a huge house." Vince growled, "And what the hell do you care anyway, you haven't seen him in 5 years."

"You're right, Leon left and I can care less what he's doing with his life, but Jo's my sister and I care how she's been living. And if you're smart you'll get your ass back to LA and stay the HELL away from Jo.

"Better get used to disappointment sport…I'm in love with your sister and there's no way in hell I'm leaving here without her." Vince stated, as Mr. Cohen's phone rang. The boys sat quietly glaring at each other, waiting for Mr. Cohen to finish his call. He hung up and said,

"Let's go, Roxy's here." He said getting up and leaving the booth with Marcus, after leaving a couple of twenties on the table.

"Who's Roxy?" Vince asked, following Leon out of the restaurant.

"Marcus's twin sister."

"Great, another member of your family to hate me."

"Nah, she'll like you."

"What makes you say that?"

"She never had a problem with me." Leon said simply, Vince laughed and followed them out of the restaurant and back to the hospital. They filed back into Jo's room, past the police man at the door and into the room. Vince glanced around and saw who he assumed to be Roxy, she was much shorter then Jo, probably around 5-4, she had shoulder length brown hair, but a very athletic looking body. After she finished hugging her family, she stood up and walked over to Vince who was hovering in the doorway.

"Hi, you must be Vince. I'm Roxy, nice to meet you." She said holding out a hand to him, he took it with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too." He said taking her hand before walking back over to Jo's bed and sitting in it next to her, getting glares from everyone except Jo, Leon and Roxy.

"Well, good news guys…"

"Vince and Marcus didn't kill each other yet." Roxy interrupted, Vince, Jo and Leon smirked, as Roxy caught a death stare from Marcus.

"Jeez tough crowd" she mumbled.

"Anyway…my good news is that I get to go home tomorrow afternoon."

"Great" Marcus said, "But you shouldn't be alone, so I'll stay tonight." Vince laughed and turned to him,

"Yeah, if you think you can stand spending the whole night with me." He said to Marcus.

"You're not staying."

"Try and stop me." Vince growled standing as Marcus advanced on him.

"Guys, stop it!" Jo said from her bed. Vince turned to face her, and as soon as he did Marcus swung, catching him in the jaw, hard enough to knock him off balance but not knock him to the ground. Leon jumped up and grabbed Vince, as he launched himself at Marcus, leaving poor Leon in the middle of their fight. Vince finally threw Leon outta the way and swung at Marcus, flooring him instantly. Leon jumped in between them again grabbing Vince around the waist and trying to hold him back, as his father was trying to hold Marcus back.

"STOP!!" Jo and her mother yelled at the same time, there was a sudden silence in the room as both Leon and his father cautiously relaxed between the two fighting men.

"Marcus, Vince is staying. He stayed last night, and I want him to stay again, and you can stay too if it'll make you feel better, but the two of you can't be fighting, you just can't."

"Then he'd better not stay." Vince growled, still glaring at him.

"Then I'll stay." Roxy said as everyone turned to look at her. "I can stay and act as chaperone, since that's what you're after anyway." She said, "ok?" Everyone nodded, except Marcus who stood up and walked from the room, shouldering Vince hard as he walked past him, Vince growled but did nothing in response. The rest of her family hugged her good-bye promising to see her first thing in the morning.

"Le, you can stay too, you don't have to get stuck with Marcus all night."

"I know, but dad wants me to hang out with him tonight, we haven't talked in a while so…"

"Ok, love you Le." She said hugging him.

"Love you too babe." He said, hugging her, and then Roxy before slapping hands with Vince and leaving the room.

"You ok Vince?" Jo asked as soon as her family had left.

"Fine, sorry I fought him but he sucker punched me and I don't stand for that shit." He said sitting on the edge of the bed, opposite from where Roxy was.

"I don't blame you for hitting him…he deserved it." Roxy said, "But let's get one thing straight. I'm sleeping in the bed with Jo, I don't think we could fit three of us in here and even if we could I'm pretty sure Leo wouldn't like it."

"Who's Leo?"

"My boyfriend" she said "so I hope you find that chair comfy." She said with a smile.

"Anyone ever tell you you're really fucking bossy."

"Anyone ever tell you, you curse too much?"

"Every damn day."

"You two are like five years olds you realize that don't you?" Jo asked.

"But you love it." Vince said leaning over and kissing her.

"That's true." She said as Vince's cell phone rang, "Be right back" he said walking out into the hallway.

"What's up Dom?"

"Tran's gone…haven't seen him in two days."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, we're all flying out to Miami tomorrow…I figure its best to handle them together…so he can't pick us off one by one, and since he's got to be coming your way anyway…"

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but it's the best I can come up with…you think you can find us a place to stay?"

"I'll see what I can do…call me when you know what's up with the time and shit."

"Sure …how's Jo?"

"She's good…I got into it with her brother…but her sister likes me…so I guess that's something."

"Did you kick his ass?"

"Not as much as I should have, Leon stopped me."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, look Dom, I gotta go back and see Jo…I'll talk to you later…say hi, to the girls for me."

"I will…be careful bro."

"Always. Bye."

"Bye." Vince hung up and walked back down the hallway to Jo's room, he walked into the room and stopped short seeing a large man sitting on her bed, with his arm around his girl.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Relax bro, you must be Vince." He said standing and holding a hand out to Vince, who didn't take it.

"You didn't answer my question." Vince growled.

"Vince, this is Leo, Roxy's boyfriend."

"Relax big man, she's like my little sister…I'm no threat to you." Vince eyed him another second before shaking his hand, and taking his seat next to Jo.

"You know you're adorable when you're jealous." Jo said as he sat down in the spot Leo had just vacated, Vince smirked at her before grabbing her and kissing her hard on the mouth.

"Thank you" he said as he pulled away to surprised looks from Jo, Leo, and Roxy.

"So what happened to your eye?" Leo asked, breaking the silence following Vince and Jo's kiss.

"Her brother." He growled glaring at Jo.

"Hey, don't look at me…I wasn't the one who hit you."

"Yeah but you distracted me, and that's how he got that cheap shot in." Leo laughed loudly before leaning over and again extending a hand to Vince, who shook it with a confused look on his face.

"Welcome to the club, first time he met me four years ago, we got about as far as my name before he took a swing at me."

"He land it?"

"Yeah, but only because Roxy tried to stop me first…threw off my attention."

"Wow that sounds familiar." Vince said, shooting a look at Jo, who just rolled her eyes.

"Who was on the phone?" Jo asked Vince.

"Dom…there all coming out here tomorrow. Shit I gotta find them hotels."

"How many of them are there?" Roxy asked.

"Uhh…there's 9 of us, counting Jo, me and Leon."

"Well I'm sure my parents are gonna want Jo at their house, which means you'll be there, Vince. Are most of the people couples?"

"Yeah, uhh…Dom and Letty, Mia and Brian, Leon and Amanda, and Jesse."

"Me and Leo have 2 extra bedrooms and a couple of pull out couches about a mile down the road from my parents house, and they can all stay with us."

"Really?" Vince asked.

"Yeah, just have them fly into Tampa."

"Aight…"

"What's wrong Vince?" Jo asked.

"Tran's not in LA…Dom hasn't seen him in a couple days."

"Shit." Jo said quietly.

"Who's Tran?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"The guy responsible for this whole thing with fucking Verone." Vince said.

"So he's coming here?" Leo asked tightly.

"Maybe…probably…I don't know." Vince said exasperated, "we knew we'd have to deal with this sometime."

"Why can't we just go to the police?" Roxy asked.

"Because we have no proof he's the one who paid Verone to grab her." Vince said.

"So what do we do?" Roxy asked.

"We don't do anything" Jo said "if he wants to grab me there's really nothing we can do…and I'm not letting him run my life…in fact…I'm leaving right now!" Jo said getting out of bed to the shock of everyone around her. As she swung her legs out of the bed, Vince grabbed her and forced her back to the bed.

"You're fucking staying in this bed until tomorrow."

"You gonna make me?"

"If he won't I will." Leo said.

"But guys come on." She whined.

"There right Jo, you need to rest…me and Leo are gonna go spend the night at his hotel."

"What and not chaperone us?" Vince asked in mock surprise.

"I think we can trust you and I just really want to get the hell outta here…no offense. But we'll be back before Mom and Dad get here in the morning." Roxy said getting up and kissing Jo on the cheek.

"Be good Vince." She warned with a smile. Leo leaned over and hugged Jo close.

"Keep an eye on her." He said shaking Vince's hand and walking out the door after Roxy.

"Well at least a couple people in your family like me." He said sliding into bed with her.

**A/N: I again apologize for the wait and I hope you all like this chapter, please read and review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Well I again am going to apologize for the long wait, but I caught mono and have been unable to do much for more then five seconds at a time. But I am now getting over it and will be able to update more frequently. Please stick with me, and to those loyal reviewers (you know who you are) I really appreciate you guys…you just make my day ******

The next morning Jo and Vince were awoken at 7 by a way to perky Roxy and a slightly hung over Leo.

"Long night?" Vince asked Leo who glared back at him through blood shot eyes.

"Don't even fucking go there." He groaned, suddenly bolting to the bathroom and slamming the door.

"So…when are your friends getting in?" Roxy asked completely ignoring her boyfriend throwing up in the bathroom.

"Uhh…I called them last night, they're gonna fly in tomorrow sometime, in Tampa."

"Perfect, did you guys eat yet?"

"Nah, you guys woke us up." Jo said.

"Well we haven't eaten yet either. Vince why don't you go grab Leo and go pick us all up some breakfast before my parents show up." Roxy suggested.

"I don't think Leo's up to it."

"He's fine." She said, before yelling into the bathroom, "LEO!"

"What?" he groaned coming out.

"Go with Vince to pick us all up some breakfast. He nodded and followed Vince from the room.

"Somebody's whipped." Vince said.

"Shut up. She asked me earlier to go get breakfast with you, she wants to interrogate Jo about you a little more."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, and my head is pounding too much to care honestly."

"What'd you guys do last night?"

"Went to a bar."

"Roxy don't drink?"

"Nah man she drank more then me."

"Then how come you're the one throwing up?"

"Roxy holds her liquor better then anyone I know."

"You mean than any girl you know."

"No…I don't…I guarantee you she can hold it better then you can."

"Yeah…we'll see about that." Vince challenged.

"Are you really driving all the way back to Tampa with Marcus and her parents?"

"Yeah, why? Bad idea?"

"I wouldn't do it."

"Yeah well…its not like I have a lot of choice." Vince sighed as the boys made it to the café and began ordering their food. Meanwhile back in the hospital, Roxy was beginning her interrogation of Jo.

"So…what's the whole story with you and Vince… never really got a chance to ask you."

"What do you wanna know?"

"How you came to be sleeping with a 25 year old man after only being in LA for what…a week? Don't get me wrong, Vince seems like a nice guy, but he's just not the type you usually go for."

"I know…but he's sweet, and cute, and crazy over protective…"

"And a little rough?"

"Yeah, a little when he wants to be, but it just works for him, and I love him."

"Whoa, sweetie, you barely know the guy, how can you be in love with him?"

"I don't know…but I am."

"And you're not having sex with him?" she asked skeptically.

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because he's 25 and looks like a guy who's pretty experienced."

"The first night we spent together I told him I was a virgin and wanted to wait and he's cool with that. Ok?"

"Ok, ok fine. So he lives with Leon?"

"Yeah and the rest of the team."

"He's from LA than?"

"Uhh…I don't know…I guess."

"What about his family?"

"I don't know, him and Dom are like brothers, but I don't know about any blood relatives."

"Don't you think maybe you guys should talk about this stuff a little?"

"Yes Roxy, but we haven't had a lot of time to get to know each other…which is exactly your point." Jo said with a sigh.

"Look, I like Vince. He seems like a great guy and a hell of a lot better then any of those others idiots you've dated."

"Thanks."

"But my point is, its great that you two are in love with each other…but you better learn about each other if you have any hope of staying together…alright?"

"Yes mom."

"Hey, I'm just looking out for my baby sister…you realize that in a couple of hours you're getting into a car with our parents and Marcus, and driving for 5 hours with nothing to do but talk about you and Vince?"

"I know, its defiantly gonna make for an interesting trip."

By the time the boys got back with the girls breakfast Jo's parents and Leon were already back in the room.

"Good morning Vince, Leo." Mrs. Cohen said politely if not a bit stiffly.

"Morning." They both mumbled back handing over the food to the girls. They sat in silence as the girls ate, as soon as they'd finished the doctor came in to discharge Jo and kicked everyone out so he could examine her one last time.

"Mom where's Marcus?" Roxy asked the question both boys had been wondering.

"He's already on his way back to Tampa. We thought it'd be a little tight with me, your father, Vince and Jo, so he decided to rent a car and drive back alone. And he's going to get the rooms ready so Jo can rest as soon as we get home." Mrs. Cohen answered as Vince tried to hide his smile, one less family member he'd have to deal with.

"What time are your friends coming in?" Leo asked.

"Who?" Leon asked

"The teams coming?" Vince answered.

"And Amanda?" Leon asked excitedly.

"Yup, and I don't know yet, Leo, they're gonna call me when they know."

"Oh, your friends are coming out?"

"Yeah, they just want to check on Jo, and they figured this is as good a time as any for a vacation." Vince lied

"Where are they staying?"

"With us mom." Roxy answered.

"Oh, well we'll have to have them over for dinner…how many are they?"

"Dom, Letty, Mia, Brian, Amanda and Jesse."

"They're ALL staying with you?" Mrs. Cohen asked.

"Yes mom."

"Well that should be fun." Mr. Cohen said trying to mediate the problem, "I assume, Vince, that you'll be staying with Jo at our house?"

"Yeah." Before anyone else could speak the doctor came out pronouncing Jo ready to return home.

"Great, I'll go get the car." Mr. Cohen said jogging down to the elevators as Jo was wheeled out of her room, arguing loudly with the nurse.

"I can walk you know. I really don't need a chair."

"I'm sorry but this is hospital policy Miss."

"I know but there is nothing wrong with my legs."

"Jo, just relax and let her do her job." Mrs. Cohen interrupted.

"Mom…" Jo began

"What if I carried her out?" Vince asked ending the argument.

"I don't know sir…policy says she uses the chair."

"Look she's gonna be a pain in your ass the whole way to the car…she'll shut up if you just let me carry her."

"Fine sir." The nurse said exasperated walking away with the chair as Vince picked her up.

"A pain the ass huh?" Leon said with a grin.

"Yeah thanks for that V."

"At least you're not in the chair."

"Yeah, but I can walk."

"Not according to the nurse."

"Yeah but…"

"Kids can we finish this in the car…your father went to get the car." Mrs. Cohen said leading the way from the hospital. After getting downstairs Jo squirmed until Vince put her down next to her father's car.

"You know I could've dropped you on your ass."

"Then I would have to kick YOUR ass."

"Well that's lady like." Mrs. Cohen mumbled as Vince smiled. They said their good byes to Leo Roxy, and Leon planning to follow them along the trip back to Tampa. Way too soon for Vince they were loaded in the back of her parents Honda CR-V,leaving Vince to face the parents alone. They drove in silence out of Miami until they hit the highway when Mrs. Cohen interrupted it.

"Joceline sweetie, you should try and get some sleep."

"Mom I've been sleeping for days, the last thing I want to do is sleep."

"But the doctor says you need to rest, what else are you going to do for the drive home."

"I don't know but sleeping wasn't high on my priority list."

"Your mother's right sweetie you should try and sleep." Her father said, eyes still on the road. Rather than respond to a battle she couldn't win Jo remained quiet, leaning against Vince and staring out the window. Vince was smart and he knew the silence wouldn't last the whole way, and the last thing he wanted was to be interrogated by her parents…again. So rather than wait for the inevitable to begin Vince decided to take the situation into his own hands. He gently shifted Jo away from him, leaning his back against the door and shifting his legs up and across the back seat, being careful not to let his shoes touch the seat, an offense punishable by death in his car. Then he again grabbed Jo and laid her across him, his arms wrapped her waist and her head resting against his chest.

"What are you doing?" she asked, settling against his chest as he rested his chin on the top of your head.

"You need sleep…apparently." He mumbled shooting a glance to her parents in the front seat.

"You realize if I fall asleep your gonna have to deal with my parents without me?"

"Who said you were gonna be the only one asleep?" he said shutting his eyes to illustrate his point. After about half an hour Vince felt her breathing even out and figured it would be better to fake sleeping, then have to deal with her parents. Her father had been playing jazz on the radio since they left the hospital and it was already driving him crazy, and he still had hours to go.

"What are we going to do about this?" Mrs. Cohen asked, thinking both Jo and Vince were sleeping.

"About what?"

"About what!? About Vince and Jo. She can't be happy with him." She said, as Vince strained to listen.

"I don't think she'd be with him if she wasn't happy. She's a smart girl."

"Yes, I thought so too…until I saw him." Vince ground his teeth together quietly.

"He's not that bad."

"He's a criminal. Marcus said he's got 2 counts of assault plus that whole thing Leon told you about the trucks. Do you really think he's good enough for her?"

"It's her decision."

"Not if she's making a bad one, and she is."

"Give her more credit then that. He obviously cares for her, I mean, god look how protective he is with her. I say if she's this close to him there is obviously something about him that she likes that we're not seeing."

"She likes him because he's a bad boy, and all girls go through that stage. And except for that beard he's attractive; of course she's going to like him. But that's not the point…the point is our daughters dating a criminal mechanic who didn't go to college…where's the future in that."

"Being a mechanic is a good steady job, college degree or not. Look at Marcus, I love him to death but he's a college graduate, and yet he's 25, lives at home and is unemployed. And then look at Leo, that boy barely graduated high school and he owns his own surf shop, which from what I hear makes a ton of money." Vince did his best to hold back a snicker.

"Fine, college isn't everything…but he has a violent criminal record, what if he hurts her?"

"Granted he seems to have a temper, but I honestly don't think Leon would let him anywhere near Jo if he thought he'd hurt her."

"We haven't spoken to Leon in five years; we don't know what he's like anymore, I mean come on…the trucks."

"Jo was always his favorite; he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her."

"Michael, I just want her to be taken care of…and I don't think Vince can do that."

"Well it's not our decision, if she's happy with him then we just leave them be."

"Speak for yourself; I will be doing something about this."

"Like what?"

"What do you think of Marcus's friend Ben?"

"Why?"

"He's a good boy, he's got a great job at his fathers law firm, he's attractive, and let's see his best attribute…he doesn't have a criminal record."

"What are you getting at?"

"I think I'm going to set them up." She announced happily, as Vince stiffened in the back seat, using all his self control not to strangle Jo's mother.

"That isn't a good idea. Why don't you just leave them alone? They're happy."

"That's not the point Michael. The point is…" She hissed stopping short as Jo shifted in her sleep.

"The point is she can do better then him." She said, as they both fell silent leaving Vince to brood and listen to Jo's even breathing.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I know I suck. I'm sorry I took soooooo long to update, I have no excuse except real life got in the way. I'd promise to update really soon…but who'd believe me. Anyway, please read and review….it just may help me update faster…maybe ******

Jo slept and Vince pretended to sleep for the rest of the ride home, neither stirring until the car was parked in the driveway. Vince "woke" first shaking Jo awake as her parents exited the car.

"Hey." He said softly

"Hey yourself…what's up…you ok?"

"Fine, I think we're at your house." She looked out the window and up at her parents two story house. It was a light yellow in color with a huge porch off the front of the house. The front yard was well landscaped, the lawn trimmed perfectly, with flower borders around the whole front of the house.

"Home sweet home." Her mother said cheerfully stepping from the car after her husband, leaving Jo and Vince alone momentarily.

"V, everything ok?"

"Fine, let's go." He practically growled exiting the car, leaving a very confused Jo in the car. She watched her parents climb up the front steps and enter the house, Vince stood outside trying to rein in his temper and waiting on Jo. She finally got out and led the way up the steps and into her house. The inside was exactly as Vince pictured their house would be. The whole inside seemed to be painted in bright crisp colors, blues, whites, and greens. The living room the front door opened into was wide open and went straight into the kitchen which had French doors leading to what looked like a huge backyard. Huge leather couches separated the living room from the kitchen forming an "L" shape facing a 64 inch Plasma screen TV. A short hallway led off the right of the living room, divided by a staircase leading to the second story, into a formal dining room with settings for 12 people. A few other rooms led down the hall but from his point at the front door Vince couldn't tell what the other rooms might be. As Vince continued to take in the house he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and was not surprised to see Marcus a second later.

"You still here?" Marcus sneered seeing Vince.

"Sure as hell looks that way."

"Marcus, that's enough." Jo sighed exasperated.

"Sure Jo…you should go upstairs and get some rest."

"I'm fine, I slept the whole way out here."

"Joceline, Marcus is right, why don't you go show Vince to the guest room and then go and rest." Mrs. Cohen said, Vince started to respond, he was staying with Jo, not some fucking guest room, but was quieted by a look from Jo as she led him from the living room.

"My mom has this thing about unmarried people sharing a room; we'll just have to sneak around a little that's all." Jo said showing Vince into the guest room and shutting the door. Vince just nodded tightly barely acknowledging that she'd spoken at all.

"V…you ok…you seem upset?"

"I'm fine." He said shortly, his tone clearly showing it was time to drop this line of questioning, but Jo persisted.

"No your not, tell me what's bothering you?"

"Just drop it Jo." He said through clenched teeth, flopping down on the bed.

"No, tell me why you're so pissed off." She pressed.

"Fine. You wanna know why I'm fucking pissed." Vince snarled launching himself off the bed and into her face. "I'm tired of your family putting down my fucking life. I can't take one more fucking person saying I'm not good enough for you."

"Baby…what're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Marcus, your parents and even fucking Leon not thinking I'm good enough for you. I know, I'm not…"

"Vince, that's not…" Jo began only to be cut off by Vince

"It is true, but I like the way my life's going and I can't take these people I've just met talking behind my back about how I'm a fucking loser cause I'm an ex-con too stupid to go to college.

"Vince I don't think any of that shit about you, I love you and that's what matters."

"Not to your family, they don't even fucking know me. And you know what, they never will cause they won't give me a fucking chance because I'm trash to them."

"V…"

"Look, I can't do this right now. I gotta go." He said walking out the door and down the hall.

"Vince." Jo called after him, as he continued to stalk down the hall and out the front door, slamming it behind him and drawing the attention of the rest of her family.

"Hey, look at that, he left, took him long enough."

"SHUT UP MARCUS! What did you guys say to him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He was fine when we left the hospital and now he's all upset saying you guys think he isn't good enough for me."

"He isn't."

"Shut up! You don't even know him…what'd you say to him in the car?"

"Nothing sweetheart, he was asleep the whole time…he's just the type of man who can't control his temper."

"Mom…you didn't say anything to him?"

"Not a thing."

"Unless…he wasn't really asleep." Her dad interjected.

"What do you mean?"

"Me and your father had a conversation about the two of you that's all…I don't know why it'd bother him though?"

"Well what'd you say?"

"Nothing that's not true."

"MOM."

"We might have said something about you being able to do better then him. I'm sure he knows that. I mean he can't be as stupid as he looks."

"That's enough Mom! And you don't think that would have offended him?"

"Jo, we thought he was asleep. We didn't mean to hurt his feelings." Her mother said insincerely.

"The hell you didn't! You won't even give him a chance! What's wrong with you!?"

"We just want what's best for you Jo, and he's not it." Marcus said grabbing her and pulling her around to face him. In one motion she shoved him away from her and whirled around to face both her parents.

"I love him, and I don't care what the hell you think. Vince is a great guy, and if you can't see that then all three of you can go to hell!" She yelled stomping outta of the house.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hello?"

"Leon, come get me."

"Vince? What's up? Where are you? Why aren't you with Jo?"

"I'm not in the mood to play fucking 20 questions, just come get me!"

"Aight, fine. Where are you?"

"Hell if I know, I'm walking by this big fucking house that looks like a castle."

"On our street?"

"Yeah."

"Aight, keep walking in that direction…I'll be right there." Leon said hanging up as Vince continued up the street. He kept looking over his shoulder to see if Jo was chasing him down. He didn't expect to see her though, he'd been a jerk to her and she wasn't the type of person to come chasing after him. After a few minuets Leon pulled up in Leo's Explorer.

"So what happened?"

"Nothing…just drive."

"Where?"

"I don't care, just away from here."

"Fine, you should know how to get to Roxy and Leo's anyway." They rode the 10 minuets to Leo and Roxy's in silence. Leo and Roxy lived in a huge two story house that looked almost identical to Jo's house except it was missing a porch. They walked up the front steps into the house, which was empty.

"Where are they?"

"Leo had to help close up at his shop, Roxy went with him. You feel like talking? Marcus isn't dead is he?"

"No he's not dead…yet, look I just need a beer. I don't feel like getting into it right now. And hey, don't let Jo know I'm here, k?"

"Yeah." Leon said as Vince walked through the kitchen and pulled out a beer before walking out onto the porch and sitting down with a sigh.

A couple of hours later Roxy and Leo came home to find Vince nursing his third beer on the porch.

"What's the matter?" Roxy asked immediately expecting the worst.

"I'm not sure, I know he got into a fight with Jo, but he won't say over what."

"Have you talked to Jo?"

"Nah, he doesn't want her to know he's here."

"Well one of us has to go find out what happened, and you've known him longest."

"Yeah, which means I'm smart enough to know when to leave him the hell alone."

"I'll talk to him," Leo said, "look he just spent 5 hours in the car alone with your parents. That had to have fucked him up some. Plus your parents hate him like they hate me, so I know how he feels."

"Fine, but if he takes a swing at you don't say I didn't warn you." Leon warned as Leo made his way onto the back porch.

"S'up Vince."

"Hey, look I don't really feel like talking right now aight?"

"Fine, but if this is about the parents you might wanna talk to me…I am the only one here who knows exactly what your going through."

"Huh, that's right, they hate you too."

"So what happened?"

"Jo fell asleep in the car, I didn't want to deal with making small talk so I pretended to be asleep…and they started talking about me and Jo and how I'm not good enough for her and how she shouldn't be with me. It's not like I didn't expect it, ya know? But hearing it in front of me just pissed me off. I held it in for too long and Jo could tell I was pissed at something and she kept pressing and I snapped. Wasn't even her fault and I yelled at her. Part of me thinks they're right, I shouldn't be with her, she could do better, and I don't wanna hold her back."

"First of all, only Jo can make the decision on if your good enough for her, and if you're still around she thinks you're worthy. Second, her parents are gonna always think that about you…but there's really nothing you can do about it. As long as you and Jo are ok who cares what the hell they think."

"Jo does. She cares what they think and if they keep telling her they don't like me she'll leave."

"Nah, Jo's stronger then that. If she really loves you what they think ain't gonna matter to her at all. She knows how they are. Give her more credit then that."

"I should go talk to her shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, but not yet. You should wait until the parents and Marcus go to sleep. Much less stressful that way."

"Aight, thanks Leo."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was past midnight when Vince came back into the house. Leon told him where they kept the spare key so he could sneak in undetected. He thought about going upstairs to find Jo, but since he didn't know what room was hers, he decided not to, the last thing he needed was to walk into Marcus's room; yeah, that'd be the perfect end to his day. He quietly made his way down the hall and silently entered the guest room, he was turning to shut the door when,

"Hey." A voice said softly from his bed, he smiled turning to face Jo.

"Hey." He walked over to the bed and sat down gently pulling her into his lap. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be…it's not your fault my parents are elitist bastards."

"Yeah but still…shouldn't have taken it out on you. I was just afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"That'd you listen to them, about me not being good enough for you, and realize it was true and leave me. I don't wanna lose you…I've barely even had you, ya know?"

" First of all, it's NOT true V. And second of all, you're not losing anything."

"You know I can't be that guy that girls are happy to bring home to their parents. That's just not me, and it's really never gonna be me."

"I don't expect you to change Vince, I love you the way you are, it fits you. Just promise me that if anything like this happens again you'll talk to me, no more of this taking off bullshit, ok?"

"Yeah, think I can do that."

"So, where'd you go?"

"Roxy and Leo's."

"That's what I figured, have fun?"

"Not really, I was slightly distracted, but at least they like me…or they fake it really good."

"Nah, there not that good actors."

"Thanks very much."

"I'm just saying."

"So which room upstairs is yours, for future reference?"

"I'll show you in the morning, right now you need to go shower cause no offense…but you kinda smell."

"You gonna be here when I get out."

"Of course…might be asleep, but I'll be here."

"What about your parents? Thought we had to be in separate rooms?"

"I'll take care of them, besides they owe me." Vince nodded as he left for the adjoining bathroom. He showered quickly, anxious to join Jo, he'd been in so much of a hurry he hadn't brought any cloths in with him. He slung a towel low on his hips and walked quietly out into the room, not wanting to wake a sleeping Jo. He quietly went through his bag looking for boxers.

"You look good in that towel."

"I look even better without it."

"I'll bet…too bad my parents are directly above us." Vince looked up frantically.

"Seriously!?"

"Yup."

"Shit." He said pulling on his boxers and sliding into the bed.

"Why, big plans?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Dom and them get in tomorrow afternoon right?"

"Yeah, would you be pissed if me and Dom beat the hell outta your brother?"

"What'd Leon do?" she asked playing dumb, but cutting him off before he could answer, "I know Marcus is an ass, but please try not to kill him."

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked, Jo started to respond but changed her mind. Instead she turned and began kissing him. She passionately kissed him for a moment before she pulled away and gently sucked his ear lobe between her teeth, Vince inhaled deeply and shut his eyes as she again pulled away, kissing down his jaw line.

"Jo…what're you doing?" he asked breathlessly as she continued kissing down his neck to nibble on his collar bone. She stopped and glanced up to see him watching her with heavily lidded eyes. She kissed down the center of his chest to his abs; she could feel his breathing grow shallow as she continued down his torso. She was just about to reach the waistband of his boxers when he stopped her and nodded in the direction of the door, she listened quietly for a second and then she could make out footsteps, someone was coming down the stairs.

"Guess that's goodnight." She whispered rolling over with her back to him. She heard Vince growl and the bed shift suddenly,

"Where you going?"

"To take a cold shower." He mumbled.

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with me!! Please make me happy and review!! Thanks to all those who read and review, you keep me going, however slowly it may be!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: So there is absolutely no excuse for taking this long to update and I sincerely apologize. I never thought I would be this short on time when I got back to school. But please don't stop reading and reviewing this story, I swear to god there is an ending and I will keep posting. I hope I still have some readers out there, please review and let me know if you like it and if I should keep going. Again I apologize from the bottom of my heart.**

Jo woke up the next morning and was surprised to find herself back in her room, and in her bed. Wondering how she'd gotten there when she fell asleep with Vince in his room, she got up and made her way downstairs, where she could hear someone moving around in the kitchen.

"Morning honey." Her father said warmly.

"Morning. What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast, have you talked to Vince yet?"

"Yeah, he came back late last night, were good."

"Jo, I really am sorry we hurt his feelings. Me and Mom just want you to be happy."

"Then why can't you accept that I'm happy with Vince?"

"That's a great question." He said with a laugh, "you've just never shown interest in a guy like him before…it surprised us I guess. Just give us some time to get used to the idea and get to know him. Ok?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go wake Vince."

"Jo…just keep in mind your mom's not gonna accept Vince as quickly as I think I will."

"I know dad." She said walking down the hall and into the guest room where Vince was just hanging up his cell phone.

"Morning V, whats up?"

"Nothing, Dom just letting me know they're just getting on the plane in Dallas."

"How did I end up back in my room last night?"

"I carried you there."

"Why?"

"I figured if I ever have any hope of your parents even tolerating me, I shouldn't intentionally piss them off."

"You could have woken me up."

"Yeah, but why bother when I can just as easily carry you?"

"Fine. You hungry? My dad's cooking breakfast."

"You sure he's not gonna try to poison me?"

"No, but I'd give you a fifty-fifty chance."

"Well, sounds like good odds to me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple of hours later Vince, Leon, Jo, Roxy and Leo walked into the airport, ready to meet Dom, Mia, Jesse, Brian and Amanda, Letty's flight from New York came in an hour later. The flight from LA landed and Amanda was the first one off the flight she ran straight into Leon open arms. She plunged her tongue into his mouth, as he wrapped his arms tight around her shoulders.

"Hey baby." Leon said pulling away for air after a few moments.

"I missed you so much Leon."

"Me too baby." Leon said, keeping her in his arms.

"Save some for the bedroom Leon." Dom said coming off the plane with Jesse, Mia and Brian right behind him arm and arm. Leon, Vince and Jo exchanged hellos with the boys and Mia before turning and introducing Leo and Roxy.

"What time does Letty's flight come in?" Dom asked Vince.

"Should be on the ground in a few, her gates a few down from here." The whole party moved down the terminal to the flight coming in from New York. After a few minuets Letty came from the plane, walking straight over to Dom. He reached out for her and pulled her to him for a kiss. She pushed him away and slapped him across the face, glaring at him.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"Making me go to New York when I told you we were safe in LA." She growled pulling him to her hard and kissing him deeply.

"And what was that for?"

"Looking hot."

"Fair enough." He said deepening the kiss even more.

"And I'm the one who needs to save something for the bedroom." Leon remarked, Letty pulled back and flipped him off before turning back to Dom.

"Jesus come on Dom, Jo's parents are having a barbeque for us this afternoon."

"Whoa, Vince playing family man."

"Fuck you." Vince growled turning with Jo and walking from the terminal. They loaded into the two SUV's they'd brought along. Leo, Roxy, Leon, Amanda, and Jesse in one and Vince, Jo, Dom, Letty, Mia, and Brian in the other. All of them stopped at Leo and Roxy's. Jo started showing everyone around to their rooms while Dom pulled Vince aside.

"So what are the parents like?"  
"They hate me, especially her mom and her brother."

"Her dad's ok though?"

"I think he's waiting to see if I'll fuck up."

"You planning on doing that?"

"Not with her…but I might beat the shit outta her brother."

"I'd prefer if you didn't. You should go get ready Dom, we're supposed to be at my parents in like 20 minuets."  
"She's getting pushy." Dom said to Vince as he walked by Jo, who smacked him in the chest. He wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "Glad to see you're ok baby girl." He whispered walking toward the stairs.

"Get your own girl." Vince mumbled after him.

Finally a half hour later everyone was once again piled into the cars and on the way to Jo's parent's house. They pulled up and all got out slowly. All the boys were wearing different variations of khakis and button down shirts. Mia was wearing a knee length white skirt and bright tank top. Letty, who refused to dress up, was wearing jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt. Amanda had taken the longest to get ready, wanting to make a good impression on Leon's family. She was wearing a white sundress decorated with silver flowers.

Jo led them around the back of the house to the deck where they'd be barbequing, and was surprised to see Marcus there with a large group of his friends, including her ex-boyfriend Jason.

"Hi honey." Her father said his arm around her mother. He introduced himself to the group and Jo went through all the names of the group. She noticed her father's eye linger over Dom, and wondered whether he knew his history with the law. They all mingled around, basically staying with their own group. Waiting until Vince was otherwise occupied getting drinks from the house Jason and Marcus made there way over to Jo.

"Look who's here Jo." Marcus said indicating Jason.

"Yeah hi, Jay." She said unenthusiastically.

"So that's the new boyfriend huh?"

"Yeah."

"So when are we going out again?"

"Jason, we've been over for a long time and I'm not having this conversation with you." He took a step closer and put his arm around her shoulder in a friendly gesture. Of course Vince took that moment to come back outside. He strode across the deck and shoved Jason's arm off Jo's shoulders, wrapping his own arm around her waist and glaring at Jason, who quickly backed off to his own group.

"What the fuck was that about?"

"Relax V. It's no big deal."

"Why was he touching you?"

"Vince, can we please just talk about this later…in private."

"Fine." He growled, trying to stalk away from him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her.

"What?"

"Don't do this Vince. I'm here with YOU, I love YOU and YOU have nothing to worry about…ok?" she said, looking deep into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Yeah." He said heading back to his chair and slumping down into it. He remained slumped and pouting in the chair until Marcus and his friends left. After a few uncomfortable moments with Jo's parents they called it a night and went inside.

"Now what…its only 11?" Jesse asked impatiently.

"We'll go back to our place and drink." Leo said picking up his keys and Roxy and heading to the cars in the driveway.

"We'll be right behind you." Jo said running inside with Vince to let her parents know.

"Mom, we're all gonna head over to Roxy and Leo's…we'll probably spend the night."

"All of you?"

"Yup."

"Joceline…I'd rather you come home."

"Mom, come on, I'll be in a whole house of people including Roxy and Leo, we'll be fine. But I gotta go, V is waiting. Love ya."

"Jo, don't do anything stupid please." Her mother called after her. She met Vince in the car and they started the drive to Roxy and Leo's.

"So who was that guy?" Vince asked trying to sound causal.

"Vince…"

"I have a right to know who was hanging all over my girlfriend."

"Fine. His name is Jason, he's one of Marcus's friend and my ex-boyfriend. But…there is nothing going on with us and hasn't been in a long time, ok?"

"Fine, as long as he doesn't try and touch you again."

"So when we go back to LA and go to the races and all those chasers a re hanging off you I can throw a hissy fit too?"

"Aight first of all guys don't have hissy fits. Second of all that's different."

"And how's that?"

"Cause I'm a guy."  
"And…"  
"And that's just how it is with me." He said smiling pulling into the driveway and getting out before she could respond. Jo jumped out of the car and chased him up the driveway, before tackling him in the grass.

"And I don't want girls hanging on you" Jo said from above him, kissing him deeply. "Deal?" she asked, pulling away.

"Whatever you want" Vince growled flipping her underneath him, nibbling her neck, as another car pulled into the driveway. Vince pulled away reluctantly, pulling Jo up with him and walked over to Leo's car.

"I'm not even gonna ask what the hell you 2 were just doing. But help me grab this shit." Leo said indicating the mass of handles and beer in the back seat.

"Fuck yes." Vince groaned seeing the tequila.

"Yeah, Dom said that's what you drank." Leo said grabbing a couple handles and cases of beer. Vince and Jo carried the rest of the alcohol into the house. Everyone was sitting in the kitchen, each nursing one beer as they wait for Leo.

"Everyone grab a shot." Don announced, holding it up like a toast.

"To the team being back together, and to Roxy and Leo…for putting up with all of us." Dom said throwing his back with everyone else.

"Hey let's play I never" Roxy suggested "It'll be a way to get to know each other." After some grumbling from the boys everyone was seated in the living room, shot glasses and handles lying in front of everyone.

"I'll go first." Roxy said, "I never had sex with a man." She said smiling as all the girls threw back their shots, except Jo.

"So you're not lying," Letty said shaking her head, Jo and Vince rolled their eyes.

"I never been outta the country" Amanda said, no one drank, "well that's just sad."

I never been arrested." Vince said smiling as he, Dom, Letty, Brian and Leon drank.

"Letty, what'd you get arrested for?" Leon asked.

"Ask Dom."

"She picked my drunk ass up before she had a license…didn't help that you bitched out the cop though." Dom added.

"Alright, my turn, I never slept with a prostitute." Leo stated smiling evilly. After a seconds hesitation Dom drank with a smirk on his face.

"No fucking way." Leon exclaimed

"WHEN!" Letty demended.

"It was before we got together…Vince bought her for me!"

"He just got dumped by that girl…what the fuck was her name." Vince asked.

"Shana."

"Yeah, he hadn't been laid in a month…trust me he needed it."

"Alright subject change, I never wanted to beat up Marcus." Jo said drinking.

"Someone just give me the fucking handle." Vince said, while Leo, Roxy and Leon each threw back another shot.

"I never had sex at the garage" Jesse said smiling, as everyone but Leo, Roxy and Jo drank.

"Damn, I thought only me and Letty did that." Dom said wrapping his arms around her.

By the time they finished playing it was 1:30 and everyone was ready for some sleep. Roxy and Leo walked upstairs to the master bedroom followed by Brian and Mia and Letty and Dom to the other two bedrooms. Leon and Amanda walked into the upstairs office where a pull out couch was and Jesse crashed in den on a couch.

Vince and Jo fell asleep sprawled on the couch, Jo directly on top of him, a position Vince was starting to like more and more. At around 3, Vince felt a nudge against his head, he opened his eyes slowly, thinking it was Leon or Jesse trying to piss him off, and was met face to face with a gun.

"Easy…" Vince said quietly trying not to wake Jo.

"Shut Up! Show us your hands!" the man with the gun said, Jo shifted but didn't wake up. Vince slowly raised both hands, Jo nuzzled against his neck, murmuring incoherently.

"On your feet." He ordered, yanking Jo off him, waking her up as she stumbled into one of the men's arms. Vince launched himself off the couch, trying to get to Jo. He was grabbed by two other men, one of which pistol whipped him across the back of his head, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"Vince!" Jo yelled fighting with the man, before being yanked backwards violently and crushed in his arms. As Jo continued to struggle with the men the rest of the house was marched downstairs, all with guns on them and looking a combination of pissed and scared. They lined them up one next to the other, Vince on the floor between Jo and Dom, with guns in their faces.

"If it isn't the king of racing himself." Lance smirked coming into the room with a few other large men.

"They got nothing to do with this Tran, this is between us."

"See that's where you're wrong Toretto, all of you are involved…especially you." He said coming to rest in front of Brian. "You're the one that killed Johnny…this is from Mr. Tran." He said drawing his silenced gun and pumping two rounds into Brian's chest. Mia screamed and threw herself at Tran who threw her to the ground kneeling on her to keep her down. Dom immediately jumped to his sisters aide grabbing Tran off of her, only to be pulled off him by a few of his men. Lance regained his hold on Mia and pulled out a hypodermic needle.

"Say goodnight to Dommie Mia." Lance teased easing the needle into a vein in her neck, she went limp almost instantly.

"Take her to the car." Lance ordered, approaching Jo this time.

"Miss me baby?"

"Yeah almost as much as I missed Carter."

"Well lucky for you he's waiting where we're going." He said bitterly grabbing her arm as he was handed another needle, Leon and Leo both took threatening steps towards Lance.

"You both have others to worry about. I'll make you a deal though; you can pick which of your three women come with me." He said amicably. Neither of them said anything. "I didn't think so." He turned to Jo again; two of his men stepped forward and grabbed her, holding her still as he inserted the needle into her neck. She instantly slumped over into Lance's arms, he grinned as he held her, nuzzling her neck gently before handing her off to one of his men who walked her out of the house.

"Last one…which one of you gets to come?" he asked eyeing Letty, Roxy and Amanda.

"You're Toretto's bitch…I think Uncle would be very happy to have you around." Dom growled threateningly from his position on the floor, but the gun at the back of his head kept him there. He approached Letty as three of his men grabbed her from behind, forcing her to the ground next to Dom, it took the three men and Lance to subdue her, but after a few seconds the needle entered her neck and she was dragged from the house.

"Now as for the rest of you" Lance said clapping his hands together, a few of his men stepped forward with more needles. "It's a good thing Vince is so uncooperative, otherwise we wouldn't have had enough of these to go around. Soon the rest of the team were laying sprawled unconscious next to an Vince and Brian.

When Jo, Letty and Mia woke they were all sprawled out on couches in the middle of a huge living room. Mia was starring off into space, silent tears running down her cheeks.

"Mia, you don't know he's dead." Letty said trying to calm her friend.

"She's right Mia, Brian could be just fine." Jo added, getting no response from Mia. They fell back into silence until the door at the far end of the room opened and Lance and his Uncle stepped in, accompanied by his entourage of bodyguards.

"Ladies." Mr. Tran said, stopping in front of them, just as the second door opened.

Carter Verone walked in, same slick ass suit and smart ass smile plastered across his face. He was flanked by Enrique, and two other large Hispanic men. He glanced at Jo, a malicious grin flashing quickly across his face as he approached Lance and his Uncle.

"Mr. Tran." He said extending his hand towards the older man.

"Mr. Verone, I'd like to thank you again for allowing us the use of your home while I conclude my business."

"You're very welcome, my men performed last night then, I can see." He said nodding towards Mia, Letty and Jo seated on the couch, his eyes lingering slightly over Jo.

"Indeed, they did exactly as I requested, If only some other of my men were as obedient." He said, staring at Lance. "Now I've been informed that you had a different form of payment in mind for the use of your men and your home."

"I did, I was thinking," he began only to be interrupted by Enrique muttering softly in Spanish to Carter, who glanced quickly at Letty before turning his attention back to Mr. Tran. "I would prefer those two, instead of money." He said indicating Jo and Letty.

"Uncle you've already made promises to me in regards to her." Lance immediately interrupted.

"And promises can be changed." He shot at Lance with a glare. "You are of course welcome to both, but if you plan on killing them I ask that you wait until my business is concluded with their counter parts, they may be very strong bargaining chips."  
"I've already tried killing her once; I don't plan on wasting looks like hers again. They'll be in our rooms in the compound if you need them. It's been a pleasure doing business with you Mr. Tran." Carter smirked, shaking Tran's hand as he and Lance left the room, his men taking Mia with him and his entourage. Letty jumped up to protest only to be grabbed roughly by Enrique.

"Get your fucking hands off of me." She yelled elbowing him hard in the stomach, enraged he grabbed her violently by the throat and threw her against the wall. Jo jumped up to help only to be pulled into a bear hug by Verone. She continued to struggle with Verone as Letty's face began to turn blue from the grip Enrique had on her throat.

"Carter make him let go, she can't breathe." Jo begged, squirming in his arms.

"Now, why would I do that? She belongs to him, just like you belong to me."

"I don't care, just get him to let go!"

"You'll behave for me this time?" he whispered so close she could feel his warm breath on her ear.

"Yes, anything, please Carter, tell him to let go." She pleaded, breathing a sigh of relief as Carter gave the order to turn her loose. Letty fell coughing to the floor. Enrique yanked her to her feet and began dragging her, still sputtering out the door. Carter and Jo following closely behind. Letty was barely conscious as Enrique continued to pull her upstairs, they reached the landing and split up, Jo and Carter to the right and Letty and Enrique to the left. Carter pushed open a large set of doors, leading to some kind of suite.

"Why can't I stay with Letty and Mia?"

"Because Letty's staying with Enrique and you're staying with me."

"I'm not staying with you."

"I'm not giving you the choice, were you not listening. You are my payment from Tran for helping him out, and Letty belongs to Enrique."

"We don't belong to anyone, and I sure as hell don't belong to you."

"We'll see. Now, I know you didn't get very much sleep last night, and I didn't sleep at all so I think we should get to bed."

"We? I'm not sleeping with you." Jo said facing him with her arms crossed across her chest. Carter smirked and shook his head removing his suit jacket and hanging it in the closet. He came back out into the room unbuttoning his shirt as he strode across the room to where Jo was standing, stopping inches from her.

"You sure that's what you want."

"Yes, now get away from me." He smiled and grabbed her arm, dragging her into the immense bathroom, upon seeing the bath tub she froze, remembering what happened last time.

"Aww…fond memories." Carter teased, "relax, I told you I'm not going to kill you." She continued to fight as he continued to pull her to the separate shower; he threw her inside, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his pants pocket.

"What the fuck are you doing?"  
"Shut up." Carter snarled as he grabbed her arms, he slapped the cuffs on one wrist, threaded the other end between the wall and a handle above one of the many shower heads before attaching it to her other wrist. After securing her to the handle, he quickly stepped back and started the water, on cold, shutting the shower door, turning off the light and leaving her to shiver.


End file.
